Please join us in prayer:

Everliving God, whose will it is that all should come to you through your Son Jesus Christ: Inspire our witness to him, that all may know the power of his forgiveness and the hope of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p. 816-7)

Nicole has served as the Office Manager and News Editor for our diocese since October 1, 2012. In her new role, Nicole will be responsible for all diocesan communications, coordination of diocesan events and consulting with congregations. Additionally, she will continue to be responsible for all benefits coordination, providing employee benefits guidance and support to congregations throughout our diocese.

Nicole has a Master's degree in Communication Studies and a Graduate Certificate in Technical Writing and Professional Communication. She has substantial experience in communications with non-profit organizations and has served in numerous leadership positions at both the parish and diocesan level. She is excited to share her passion for both communication and ministry in this new position and looks forward to working with all of the wonderful people of our diocese.

For any communications needs, please contact Nicole via email at nicole@norcalepiscopal.org or via phone at 916-442-6918.

Please join us in congratulating Nicole and welcoming her to this new position!

To read more about Nicole, please click here.

When: Saturday, June 22nd, 2013; 12:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Where: St. Clement’s Episcopal Church
2376 Zinfandel Dr.
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670

St. Clement’s parish invites you to enjoy this special celebration and their delicious Tennessee barbecued beef and pork that will be slow roasted all night by parish members!

Complete BBQ lunches, with sides, will be available for sale to take home, or enjoy a picnic lunch at tables on the church lawn. There will also be extra individual portions of BBQ available for purchase to take home and/or freeze that will be perfect for your July 4th celebration!

For additional event questions, please contact the Rev. Christine Leigh-Taylor at the church office at 916-635-5282 or email her at pastor@saint-clements.com.

To download a PDF flyer, please click here.
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*Free meals of hamburgers and hotdogs will also be made available to feed hungry community members in need.*
Please visit our website for the latest updates about St. Clement’s 1st Annual Tennessee BBQ!
www.saint-clements.com

by The Association of Episcopal Deacons

The Association of Episcopal Deacons (AED) Diaconal Assembly 2013 will be held June 13-16, 2013 in Williamsburg, VA. This year's theme is "Jamestown: A Mere 400 Years. Weaving a New World View."

The Assembly will begin with Liturgy at the Hunt Monument in Jamestown, site of the first Anglican celebration of the Eucharist in the Americas. Over the space of four days participants will explore the various world views (Colonial, Indigenous, and African) which continue to inform our nation and church.

The assembly will be led by:

· Eric H. F. Law, founder and executive director of the Kaleidoscope Institute, which provides leadership resource and training for building inclusive community, intercultural competency, community transformation, congregation vitality and stewardship.

· Sarah Eagle Heart, Missioner for the Office of Native American/Indigenous Ministries with The Episcopal Church.

· Katrina Brown, producer/director of Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North, a first-person documentary film about her slave-trading ancestors from Rhode Island, the hidden history of New England’s complicity in slavery, and questions of repair and reconciliation today.

The Rt. Rev. Herman Hollerith of Southern Virginia, the host diocese, will give the welcoming address, and will celebrate the closing Eucharist at historic Bruton Parish in Williamsburg.

For complete information, registration, accommodations, and transportation from the airport to the venue, go to www.episcopaldeacons.org. Space is limited to the first 200 to register.

To learn more, click here to download a brochure.

by St. Francis House

The Community of St. Francis is a group of Franciscan Sisters in the Episcopal Church. They live a community life under the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, inspired by the example of St. Francis. They are active in the wider church and community in works of compassionate service and social justice advocacy. If you are a woman between 25 and 59, you are invited to visit for a discernment week and share in a life of prayer and ministry with the poor in San Francisco.

When: Wednesday, July 10 to Monday, July 15
Where: St. Francis House
3743 Cesar Chavez St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
Cost: Free
Deadline Date: Saturday, June 31
Contact: Sr. Pamela Clare, CSF, CSFsfo@aol.com, 415-824-0288
Link: www.communitystfrancis.org

St. Benedict says:
Listen...
incline the ear
of your heart

So be a summertime monk for two weeks or more at St. Gregory’s Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in the Episcopal Church at Three Rivers, Michigan.

…if you are male, 18 to 50, and if you can spend at least two weeks at the abbey during July. The only charge is $25 for registration.

For more information and an application form, please write:

Summer Program Director
St. Gregory’s Abbey
56500 Abbey Road
Three Rivers, Michigan 49093-9595
novicemaster@saintgregorysthreerivers.org

To download a PDF flyer, please click here.

Get ready for an outdoor adventure that starts right in our own backyard! Come to God's Backyard Bible Camp at St. Augustine Episcopal Church in Rocklin! This exciting Vacation Bible School gets better and better each day as children take the love of Jesus into their homes, neighborhoods and communities. There will be Bible stories, games, songs, crafts and snacks. Your kids will be transported into a fun-filled world where they will learn to apply God's truths to their own lives.

When: June 24 - 28, 2013; 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Where: St. Augustine, Rocklin
1850 Wildcat Blvd.
Rocklin, CA 95765
View Map
Who: Children aged four to nine, all are welcome!
Cost: $30, scholarships are available

If you have any questions or would like to enroll your child, please contact the church office at 435-9552 or visit the church's website at www.staugustineepiscopal.com.

The Great Mongolian BBQ (chopsticks optional) will be held on Saturday, June 1, 2013 from 4:00 - 8:00 p.m. at St. John's in Marysville. Proceeds will benefit Loaves & Britches, St. John's program providing groceries, clothing and prepared meals to all those in need in our community. 

When: Saturday, June 1, 2013 from 4:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Where: St. John's, Marysville
800 D Street
Marysville, CA 95901
View Map
Cost: $12 per person, $8 for kids under 10 years old, beer and wine available for purchase

On Friday, June 7, 2013, we will honor this year's graduates of our diocesan-sponsored Education for Ministry Program. The Celebration and Eucharist will be at 7:00 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral with the Rt. Rev. Barry L. Beisner presiding. A reception will follow the service in the parish hall.

All graduates will be honored for completing four years of focused study of scripture, church history and theology combined with theological reflection.Two graduates, Loren Weatherly and Sally Jeanne Coghlan,will share their experiences in the program.

This year's graduates are: Hubert Griffin, Phyllis Kay Griffin and Mary Groesbeck from St. Michael's in Carmichael; Carolyn Childers, Sally Jeanne Coghlan and John Wiley Leeder from St. James' in Yuba City/St. Stephen's in Colusa; Elizabeth Benage, Charles Rouse and Sydney Trevert from All Saints' in Redding; Sharon Lawrence from Faith Church in Cameron Park; Page Kelly O'Conner, Geina Silvia Waddell and Loren John Weatherly from Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Sacramento.

The EfM program would not exist without the many Mentors in our diocese who work to develop the ministry of our laity through EfM.We appreciate their willingness to take on this important calling and the support of their clergy and parishes in this important work.

Acts 2:1-21 or Genesis 11:1-9; Psalm 104:25-35, 37; Romans 8:14-17 or Acts 2:1-21; John 14:8-17, (25-27)

The Holy Spirit came to Jesus’ first followers on Pentecost, empowering the frightened pack of disciples to become a brazen bunch of evangelists. The curse of the Tower of Babel was reversed in one amazing outburst. At Babel, people were divided. Former fishermen and other followers of Jesus became interpreters par excellence. In this Babel scene played backward, the devout Jews from Elam, Mesopotamia, Cappadocia, Pontus, Pamphylia and the like now hear the Good News of what God has done through Jesus each in their own native language.

The gospel is spoken not in confusing babble but with a crystal clarity that leaves the hearers cut to the quick. Before this amazing day is over, 3,000 devout Jews will be baptized as followers of Jesus, the Christ. The result of Pentecost was to take a diverse group of people and to bring them together into a common understanding of what God’s deeds of power meant to their lives.

To continue reading, please click here.

 by The Episcopal Church, Office of Public Affairs

The Task Force for Reimagining the Episcopal Church (TREC) is utilizing social media to solicit ideas, info and as a means to hear from the church. And, TREC plans to regularly pose questions, report on its progress, and engage both the wider church and specific groups within the church in an ongoing dialogue throughout the triennium.

The TREC website is at www.reimaginetec.org, twitter is at www.twitter.com/reimaginetec and Facebook is at www.facebook.com/reimaginetec

According to the Rev. Canon Craig Loya, “An important part of our work during this triennium is to engage the wider church in conversations about church structure and about what God is calling us to be as The Episcopal Church embraces change and creativity in the years to come.”

To continue reading, please click here.

by The Episcopal Church, Office of Public Affairs

Episcopal News Service has launched a new section, On The Move, sharing the news of churchwide appointments, job transitions, clergy ordinations and retirements.

“We wanted to add this new section to the Episcopal News Service website to make it easier for people to share the news of their job transitions with the wider Episcopal Church,” explained the Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg, Episcopal News Service editor/reporter.

On the Move, available here provides an area for announcements of ordinations, promotions, calls, hiring or retirements in an Episcopal Church-related job. A user-friendly form can be uploaded by the person or someone on his/her behalf, provided they verify their relationship.

by Camp Noel Porter

Camp Noel Porter is accepting applications for the 2013 camp season. Visit our website at www.campnoelporter.org for dates and descriptions.

When we asked campers what they like about Camp Noel Porter, two campers from St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Davis replied with a list that says it all!

Top Twelve Reasons Why We Love Camp Noel Porter
by Kevin Briggs and Jonathan Willits of St Martin's, Davis

1.White Water Rafting on Wednesday, where the biggest risk of getting wet is when the other rafts splash you in passing
2. Beanie Weanie Day is even more fun than it sounds
3. Camp Dance for Junior/Senior High or Carnival for the younger campers
4. Massive Capture the Flag game
5. Going to the beach at Lake Tahoe with your friends
6. Nobody believes camp food is good, but at Camp Noel Porter, the spaghetti will give Grandma’s recipe a run for its money
7. Battling it out to earn a spot on the Wall of Fame in the Noel Porter team obstacle course...and knowing future Noel Porter generations will see your name
8. The friendly staff
9. Making new friends who you remember year after year
10. Campfire songs and skits
11. Competing for the best skit rankings from the staff
12. Working with your cabin mates to turn your favorite pop songs into grace before meals

To register, make inquiries or donate to the Camp Noel Porter scholarship fund, please visit www.campnoelporter.org or call 530-583-3014.

by the Episcopal Foundation of Northern California

Please join us Sunday, June 23, 2013, for this special presentation sponsored by the Episcopal Foundation of Northern California, the Capital Deanery, the Episcopal Church Foundation and hosted by Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. We all know that Planned Gifts and Endowed Funds make a huge difference in the life of a congregation, but how do we get there? This presentation for the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California is designed to take the mystery out of it and enable every congregation to begin these programs. Our presenter will be Jim Murphy, CFRE, Managing Program Director of Financial Resources for the Episcopal Church Foundation. Please invite the leadership from your congregation; Clergy, Vestry, Stewardship, Finance, Planned Giving and other interested groups.

To learn more, please click here to download a PDF flyer.

We have been celebrating the realities of Christ rising and ascending, and what it means to be such a community. Now comes the season of Pentecost, Christ's promise fulfilled, and the further unfolding of God's agenda in our lives.

Gerard Manley Hopkins says of one of the fruits of the Spirit, Peace, "He comes with work to do...". The Holy Spirit comes to us in just such a way. That work is multi-dimensional.

With the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are invited deeper into the life of God. We are given what we need to do the work of inner transformation--"heart work"--that is essential to the Christian life. We are helped to become more like Jesus in His relationship with God.

The Holy Spirit also empowers us to do the work that it is our privilege to do, as partners with God in God's mission. By the Spirit, God gives us what we need for the work we are called to do, all things necessary to the task of transforming this world.

I pray that this season of Pentecost will be a time when we all are renewed in the power of the Spirit for transformation. May the life of the Spirit bear fruit in all dimensions of our lives, and of our life together. And may the Holy Spirit, who has begun a good work in you, direct and uphold you in the service of Christ and His kingdom.

Grace and peace,

Fifty Years Later: The State of Racism in America

Live webcast on November 15

by The Episcopal Church, Office of Public Affairs 

On November 15, the Episcopal Church will host and produce a forum centering on a critical topic for our times: Fifty Years Later: The State of Racism in America. Originating from St. Andrew’s Episcopal Cathedral in Jackson, MS (Diocese of Mississippi), the 90-minute ecumenical forum will be live webcast beginning at 1 pm Central (2 pm Eastern, noon Mountain, 11 am Pacific, 10 am Alaska, 9 am Hawaii).

The forum will be moderated by well-known journalist and PBS commentator Ray Suarez. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will keynote the event. Two panel discussions will focus on main themes: Racism in America today - why does it persist? And Racism in America's future - where is there hope for change?

To continue reading, please click here.

Organist Christoph Bull will return to Christ Church in Eureka on Wednesday, May 22 to present a program at 10 a.m. for local schoolchildren, 4th through 8th grade, and a concert for the general public that evening at 7:00 p.m. to benefit the Children’s Music & Arts Ministries at Christ Church. All proceeds from the concert will go toward the 2013 Music & Arts Camp to be held July 30 – August 9 at the church.

When: Wednesday, May 22 at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Christ Church, Eureka
625 15th Street,
Eureka, CA 95502
View Map
Suggested Donations: $15 for individuals and $25 for families

The mission of the Children’s Music and Arts Ministries at Christ Church is to share the gifts of music and the arts with children in our community through teaching and experience in a safe, loving environment as we encourage outreach to underserved children to awaken and nurture the creative Spirit we all possess. The Music and Arts Camp is in its fourth year.

Suggested donations at the door of the concert – $15 for individuals and $25 for families – will be gratefully accepted. The May 22 events are made possible by grants from Episcopal Community Services (a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California) and the Special Projects Fund of the San Francisco Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO), and by donations from the Christ Church Concert Series and the Sequoia Chapter of the AGO.

Christoph Bull is an extraordinarily gifted keyboard musician who is University Organist at UCLA and a solo artist featured on the premiere recording of the pipe organ at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles. A versatile musician who crosses musical boundaries, he has performed organ music of J. S. Bach at the Catholic Cathedrals of Los Angeles, Salzburg, Saint-Denis (Paris) and Moscow, yet he has also performed at the Whiskey A Go Go and the Viper Room in Southern California. He has been a featured recitalist and workshop presenter at the National Convention of the American Guild of Organists in Los Angeles in 2004, and he once opened for Cindy Lauper together with violinist Lili Haydn.

Dr. Bull teaches organ at UCLA, and is Principal Organist at First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica. He has worked with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Grammy award winning Southwest Chamber Music, and with Bootsy Collins and George Clinton of Parliament Funkadelic. He has accompanied silent movies on the organ and has improvised on numerous musical tunes ranging from Medieval dances to Beethoven to Beatles songs. He received an ASCAPlus Award for innovative concert programming in 2006 and 2007. In his own words, he “likes organ music, rock music, and rocking organ music.”

Click here to download a flyer for this event.

If you have any questions, please contact Nancy Streufert via email at nancy.s.streufert@att.net or via phone at 707-442-1212.

by The Sacramento Bee

The fragrance of fresh flowers fills the air in the meditation center as nurses arrive to have their hands blessed by [the] Rev. Arthur Lillicropp, an Episcopal priest. As manager of Spiritual Care Services at Kaiser Permanente in South Sacramento, he comforts the sick and dying, counsels grieving families, and reassures staff.

To continue reading, please click here.

T

Almighty God, whose loving hand hath given us all that we possess: Grant us grace that we may honor thee with our substance, and, remembering the account which we must one day give, may be faithful stewards of thy bounty, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p.827)

St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church of Rocklin has three parishioners functioning as a Pastoral Team offering pastoral health-based support grounded in their medical experience. The team members are patient advocates and help people in health crisis to navigate the complicated and confusing aspects of healthcare and insurance coverage.

Help may come in the form of research or assistance in making decisions, going to physician visits to act as listeners, and being present during difficult times as well as supporting family members. Although the members are all health professionals they do not provide medical treatment or act as health care providers.

One of the members of the team is Dr. Rich Wampler, who serves as a medical advocate for anyone in the parish requesting his services. He will help answer questions about disease and treatment in non-medical language. At times he accompanies people to medical appointments. Rich is a graduate of the Indiana University School of Medicine and had extensive experience in cardiac surgery and emergency room settings before branching into his current field of artificial heart pumps.

Mary Kathryn Marum graduated from Wayne State and the University of Michigan. She holds a Master’s degree as a family nurse practitioner and traveled to Maryland to complete the church’s training as a parish nurse. Her background includes all aspects of nursing care from hospital to hospice, rehabilitation, community nursing and public health settings.

Jeanne Rochelle completed 43 years of nursing after graduating from Loma Linda University. Much of it involved neonatal and pediatric health care. Her recent experience as a case manager for Workers’ Compensation has been most helpful in assisting members with coordination of care, hospital visits and a plan for health care intervention.

Parishioners may contact any member of the team, as well as the Rev. Liz Armstrong for pastoral care assistance. The parish feels both blessed and protected at those times when we are ill and at our most vulnerable. This unique team carries out the ministry of the physician Luke in many ways!

What now, God?
Exploring Career, Vocation and Self in Mid-Life

When: July 22, 6:00 p.m. to July 23, 7:00 p.m.
Where: Christ the King Retreat Center
6520 Van Maren Ln.
Citrus Heights, CA 95621

Are you in midlife and feel like what you have been doing is no longer satisfying?

Have you found that your mind and spirit are changing, or that you have a vague calling to something new and presently unknown?

Would you like to do some discernment among and with people in a similar situation?

Would you like to petition God about all of this?

Then this retreat is for you!

“What looks like falling can largely be experienced as falling upward and onward, into a broader and deeper world, where the soul has found its fullness, is finally connected to the whole, and lives inside the Big Picture.”
– Father Richard Rohr

Click here to download a pamphlet with more information.

by The Episcopal Church, Office of Public Affairs

The heads of three religious denominations - The Episcopal Church, the Church of Sweden, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) – signed a joint statement “to celebrate our commitment to hope in the face of climate change.”

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, Church of Sweden Archbishop Anders Wejryd and ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson presented the document at the close of the first of a two-day environmental event, “Sustaining hope in the face of climate change” in Washington DC on May 1 and 2.

To continue reading, please click here.

To read an update, please click here.