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​The Episcopal Youth Event (EYE 2023) will take place July 4-8, 2023 at the University of Maryland. Lauren Alleyne, Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, is the Province II representative to the planning team.

The National Episcopal Church Women has a new website at https://ecwnational.org/.  Our Province II representatives are Carolyn Belvin, Diocese of NJ and the Rev. Jennifer Kenna.. The national board is planning to meet sometime in the summer of 2023 and Syracuse, NY is being considered for the meeting site.

A Synod meeting will be planned for sometime in April, 2024.  It is likey to be a hybrid meeting.

Applications are now accepted for the Constable Fund grants, which focus on religious education.  Constable grants need to be submitted to the Province for approval, and then onto the DFMS.

All Constable grant applications should be submitted to Province II Coordinator Neva Rae Fox at [email protected] no later than Tuesday, November 1 at noon Eastern.

Constable Fund grants support mission initiatives outside the Episcopal Church budget, with a stated preference for religious education work. The grants are named for visionary philanthropist Marie Louise Constable, who established the fund through a gift made to the Episcopal Church in 1935.

Application requirements and an application form can be found online in English, Spanish, and French.
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More info available here: https://www.episcopalchurch.org/publicaffairs/grant-applications-open-for-episcopal-church-constable-fund-roanridge-trust-2/

Province II had a strong presence at the 80th General Convention in Baltimore.

Thanks to Province II bishops, clergy and lay deputies who tirelessly attended to the work of General Convention. During the four days, many of our Province II folks addressed the House of Bishops and House of Deputies making key points, presenting innovative concepts, and discussing the work of General Convention and the church.

Of prominence at GC was the adoption of Resolution C021, calling for the Diocese of Puerto Rico moving to Province II from Province IX.  Welcome! Province II dioceses are: Albany, Central New York, Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, Cuba, Haiti, Long Island, New Jersey, New York, Newark, Puerto Rico, Rochester, the Virgin Islands, and Western New York.

Province II representatives were elected to many offices. Congratulations to all! Elected were:
Executive Council

• Bishop Rafael Morales, Puerto Rico

General Board of Examining Chaplains Faculty

• The Rev. Carla Roland Guzmán, New York
• Andrew Wright, Newark

General Board of Examining Chaplains Bishop

• Bishop R. William Franklin, Long Island

Treasurer of General Convention

• Kurt Barnes, New York

Trustees of Church Pension

• Bishop David Alvarez, Puerto Rico
• The Rev. Gawain de Leeuw, New York
• The Rev. Sandye Wilson, Newark

Election of Court of Review (Lay members)

• Brunilda Rodriguez-Velez, Puerto Rico
• Laura Russell, Esq., Newark

Executive Council Lay

• Annette Buchanan, New Jersey
• Tivaun Cooper, New York

 Court of Review – Clergy

• The Rev. Carrie Schofield-Broadbent, Central New York
• Election of Trustee of the General Theological Seminary (Lay members)
• Noreen Duncan, New Jersey

Interested in learning more about the 80th General Convention? Check out
The Living Church https://livingchurch.org/
Episcopal News Service https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/
 

The Constable Grant and Roanridge Trust Grant awards have just been announced.
Congratulations in Province II:
2022 Constable Fund grants
Formation, Christian Education and Discipleship, $36,500: Support for the Episcopal Church in Cuba, Province II, to strengthen Christian education for leaders and communities, including formation and discipleship.  

Office of the Presiding Bishop/Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe – Adult Education, $20,000: Support for a weeklong “Anglican Summer Session in Europe” to facilitate collaboration among the Anglican Communion provinces on the European continent.

2022 Roanridge Trust grants
Episcopal Diocese of New York: Episcopal Futures: Rural Faith Project, $45,725

The annual conference of Episcopal Communicators was held in person for the first time in two years at the DeSoto Hotel in Savannah, Georgia on May 3-6, 2022. It was a wonderful gathering with opportunities for fellowship and sharing.  Episcopal Communicators is a self-supporting organization of communication professionals working in the Episcopal Church for dioceses, congregations and organizations.  Its mission is to foster community that inspires and supports excellence in church communications.

The keynote speakers were Ryan Casey Waller,a licensed psychotherapist, writer, speaker, lawyer, and Episcopal priest, and sociologist, best-selling author, lecturer, humorist, and storyteller, Bertice Berry, PhD.  Dr. Waller spoke about resiliance and Dr. Berry spoke about fulfilling our baptismal covenant to “Strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being.”  Both were excellent!

There were many workshops, of course.  I was able to attend three:
​
Digital evangelism through content creation was presented by Aida Milien, a lifelong Episcopalian originally from the Dominican Republic and Haiti. She is communications associate for the Episcopal Diocese of California, working from her home in Miami. Her emphasis was on the call to tell our stories as the most effective, authentic way of letting others know who Jesus is and what he means in our lives.  She shared examples of short videos that can be produced and shared with no budget at all.

Updating a brand: a case study and some tips for success was presented by the Rev. Scott Gunn, the executive director of Forward Movement.  He shared the process that Forward Movement has just completed of re-branding and re-freshing that brand. We heard about some best practices, more about the Forward Movement process and some tips for those of us who might contemplate updating a brand.

Graphic design for non-designers was presented by Jason Franklin, the director of communications at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Winston-Salem, N.C, and before that the manager of communications for All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills. We learned some fundamentals of graphic design as well as some tips and tricks in Adobe Creative Suite to improve our designs.

The highlight of the conference is always the Polly Bond Awards.  They are awarded at the closing banquet in a number of categories.  Only Episcopal Communicators members may submit an entry.

• Best Website
• Best Print Newsletter/Magazine
• Best Email Newsletter
• Best Campaign
• Audio/Video - a. Long-form, b. Short-form Video, contracted shooting or editing,     c. Short-form Video, in-house produced, d. Podcast
• Writing: a. News, b. Feature, c. Commentary/Reflection
• Visual Arts: a. Photography, b. Graphic Design, c. Layout, e. Booklet
• Social Media

Please remember to save the date and enable all your communicators to attend next year. If your communications person is not a member, it's not too late to join.  Find out more about membership here.
Save the date:
EPISCOMM23
Camp Allen, Navasota Texas
April 25 - 27, 2023

​ 
The meeting was live streamed, therefore this is some highlights and the work of the Joint Standing committee of Mission Beyond, which I chaired this meeting.
 
The Executive Council’s first Hybrid meeting went very well. It was so nice to be with those in person after this long period of doing business on zoom. Highlights of the meeting are:   
Council heard from the Indigenous Boarding Schools Ad Hoc Committee. The committee is working to address The Episcopal Church’s involvement with residential schools that separated Native American children from their families and, in many cases, attempted to eradicate their culture and language. Indigenous leaders discussed the diversity of the residential school experience and a recent effort assisted by Episcopalians to repatriate the remains of residential school students from school grounds to their tribal homelands. Council met in groups to discuss and continue our work of reconciliation.

1. We approved a 2022 churchwide budget relatively the same prior to the pandemic. Acknowledging that the coming years may bring significant changes to the church, culturally and financially.
2. Finance reported for the 2019-2021 triennium there is a projected surplus of $13.4 million that will be put into investments and short-term reserves. Presiding Bishop
   Michael Curry said. “We tightened our belt. Actually, we lost weight, institutionally. We did everything we could to squeeze everything out of every dollar we had.” He cautioned that calling it a “surplus” could be misleading, though it does create an “opportunity to do something both creative and helpful for the church.
3. As chair of the Mission Beyond Committee, we proposed a resolution reaffirming the Episcopal Church’s commitment to people of all genders and sexual orientations and invites the House of Bishops in Ghana to reconsider their endorsement of this anti-LGBTQ legislation.
4. We proposed another resolution supporting The John Lewis Voting Rights Enhancement Act (H.R. 4) this resolution decries the efforts in state legislatures across the country to limit voting rights & requests OGR to advocate in support of H.R.4 or similar legislation.
5. We additionally proposed a Resolution expressing the Executive Council’s grave concern of the situation involving the House of Bishops of the Anglican Church in Ghana, which recently endorsed an action that would criminalize LGBTQ self-identification or advocacy in the country. The Resolution reaffirms the Episcopal Church’s commitment to people of all genders and sexual orientations, and invites the House of Bishops in Ghana to reconsider their endorsement of this anti-LGBTQ legislation.  We request OGR and OGP to engage their relations in upholding human rights abroad and throughout the Anglican Communion.
6. Mission Beyond, in conjunction with Mission Within, proposed our first joint resolution in Support for the Commission for a Haitian Solution to their crisis. The country has been beset by cascading political, health and social crises over the past year, including another devastating earthquake. Our resolution expresses support for the people of Haiti and the newly created Commission for Haitian Solution to the Crisis.

                                                Respectfully submitted,
The Rev. Lillian Davis-Wilson

Applications for Constable Grants have been announced by The Episcopal Church

If you are planning to apply for a Constable Grant 2021, you must notify Province II by November 1, 2021 that you are entering the process.  Email your intent to the Rev. Jimmie Sue Depp, Secretary of Province II, here  [email protected]

Applications for Constable Grants involve a multi-step process.
First, applications must be submitted to the Diocesan Bishop for approval and signature.

From there, applications must be sent to the Province for review/approval prior to submission to the Episcopal Church. 

Deadline for submitting Constable Grant applications to Province II is Friday, November 12. (Deadline for the Province II to submit to the Episcopal Church is December 12.)

Send applications to the Rev. Jimmie Sue Depp, Secretary of Province II, here  [email protected]

Linked here is the application to submit a proposal to Province II.  The deadline for the sumbmission to the province is November 12, 2021.  Make sure your application is complete.  The information/items you must provide are high-lighted.  Download the application, save it with your project's name, complete it and then send it, along with all of the other required documentation to  the Rev. Jimmie Sue Depp, Secretary of Province II, here  [email protected]

Diocese of Puerto Rico - Iglesia Episcopal Diócesis de Puerto Rico
1409 Ave. Ponce de León, 4to piso San Juan, Puerto Rico 00907-4025

• Bishop: The Rt. Rev. Rafael Morales
• Website: https://www.episcopalpr.org/index.html
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/episcopalpr
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/episcopalpr
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iglesiaepiscopalpr/

At the September 9 Province II Synod, a resolution to accept the Diocese of Puerto Rico into the Province received a unanimous vote. Yvonne O’Neal, Lay Representative to Province II Council, presented the Resolution Regarding the Diocese of Puerto Rico. O’Neal represented the Province at a Special Convention of the Diocese of Puerto Rico on July 31, 2021. The Diocese of Puerto Rico convened this Special Convention to determine the change from Province IX to Province II, III, or IV.
 
Under General Convention Resolution 2018-A072, which allows dioceses to review the province they are currently in and explore whether they wish to become affiliated with a different province, Puerto Rico analyzed its relationship with Province IX. As a result, the Diocese of Puerto Rico resolved by canonical vote to begin the formalities for the change of province. This resolution was present to the 22nd  Synod of Province IX on April 24, 2021, and was ratified unanimously.
 
At the Special Convention of the Diocese of Puerto Rico, Bishop William Klusmeyer of West Virginia represented Province III. Bishop Gregory Brewer of Central Florida represented Province IV. The Rev. José Rodríguez -- a Puerto Rican-born priest, the rector of an Orlando parish – accompanied Bishop Brewer. Province IV was very keen on Puerto Rico and was unequivocal in its presentation, including an excellent video. The race was between Provinces II and IV, as Province III was eliminated in the first ballot. Interestingly, the laity showed a preference for Province II and the clergy for Province IV. After much faithful deliberation, amid prayers and songs of praise, Province II garnered 84 percent of the total vote (71 percent clergy, 87 percent laity) on the sixth ballot.
 
Province II Acting President Bishop DeDe Duncan-Probe of Central New York invited Bishop Rafael Morales of the Diocese of Puerto Rico to address the Synod before the vote. He gave an overview of the Diocese and its many programs. Bishop Morales highlighted the diocesan seminary, the funeral and grief counseling program, the new radio station with its many programs, especially the lay ministries featured at 7 PM, and how this all feeds into social media. One of the most notable achievements of the Diocese of Puerto Rico is the St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System, the biggest on the island, and has been in operation for more than 100 years. Bishop Morales reiterated that the Diocese of Puerto Rico is Dynamic, Missionary, and Evangelizing. He is very proud of his people!
 
In presenting the resolution, O’Neal talked about the dynamism and vitality of the Diocese of Puerto Rico. She said it would be an excellent addition to our Caribbean Dioceses of Cuba, Haiti, and the Virgin Islands. Over the years, Puerto Rico has been a friend to Cuba. The sixth Bishop of Puerto Rico, the Rt. Rev. David Álvarez, served as Provisional Bishop in Cuba from July 1993 to November 1994. The Diocese of Puerto Rico was among the first responders to assist Haiti following the recent earthquake. There has always been a close relationship between Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The Virgin Islands was part of the Diocese of Puerto Rico from 1917 when acquired by the United States until the formation of the Diocese of the Virgin Islands in 1962.
 
Another item that O’Neal wanted the Synod to understand was that Puerto Rico was not coming to Province II seeking financial assistance. The Diocese has income-producing enterprises such as the St. Luke’s Health System. Eight years ago, the Diocese of Puerto Rico had an endowment of $26 million dollars amassed by the retiring bishop, an endowment that has grown substantially since then.
 
In 2022, the Diocese of Puerto Rico will celebrate 150 years of Anglicanism on the island. Queen Victoria sent the materials from England to build Holy Trinity Church in Ponce. The bell of the Holy Trinity rang for the first time on July 28, 1898, after the U.S. invaded Puerto Rico, ending the religious restrictions of the Spanish government. The bell is affectionately known as the “Second Liberty Bell.”
 
Next year at the 80th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, Puerto Rico will present a resolution for the approval and implementation as the 13th diocese in Province II, the International Atlantic Province.  This vote should be a mere formality. So, 2022 portends to be a big year in the life of the Diocese of Puerto Rico as it celebrates 150 years of Anglicanism and as it becomes a part of the International Atlantic Province – Province II. The year 2022 will undoubtedly be a year of joyful celebration, God willing. ¡Bienvenidos, Puerto Rico!
​
Yvonne O'Neal, 
Lay Representative to Provincial Council