by Sewanee The School of Theology

On May 9, the [Sewanee] School of Theology's contextual education program and the office of communications and marketing co-hosted a workshop with the Rev. Jake Dell, senior manager of digital marketing and advertising in the Episcopal Church's Office of Communication. The workshop covered the most effective ways to communicate with your targeted audience. Church leadership from as far away as Jackson and Knoxville, Tenn. and Atlanta, Ga., came to participate. Seminarians along with local alumni/ae rounded out the audience.The workshop, the first of its kind at the School, was open to anyone interested in learning more about websites, social media, and basic marketing campaigns and will be offered on an annual basis going forward.

You may download these handouts from the workshop:

-  Why You Should Market Your Church
-  How to Market Your Church
-  Marketing Template — A step-by-step plan for a mid-sized church

Click here for more handouts.

[For more information and resources on church marketing and communications please contact Director of Communications Keri Lopez via email to keri@norcalepiscopal.org or by calling 916.442.6918 x223, or visit the Communications Resource Center on the diocesan website at www.norcalepiscopal.org/communications.]

by the Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs

On May 7, Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori joined other religious voices in repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery at the 11th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII). The theme for the UNPFII meeting is “The Doctrine of Discovery: its enduring impact on indigenous peoples and the right to redress for past conquests (articles 28 and 37 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples).” In 2009, General Convention repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery.

The Presiding Bishop’s letter, issued on May 16, is presented here:

Pastoral Letter on the Doctrine of Discovery and Indigenous Peoples

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”[1]

The first biblical creation story tells of the creation of earth, sky, waters, creatures, and gives human beings dominion over the rest. God pronounces what has been created good. At the end of the original week of creation, with the advent of human beings, God blesses all of it, and pronounces the work very good[2].
The second creation story tells of what goes wrong – the first two earth creatures eat what they have been forbidden to eat, and are then expelled from the garden[3]. They have misunderstood what it means to exercise dominion toward life in the garden. Through the millennia, many of their offspring have continued to misunderstand dominion, or to willfully twist the divine intent of dominion toward the conceit of domination. Through the ages, human beings have too often insisted that what exists has been made for their individual use, and that force may be used against anyone who seems to compete for a particular created resource[4]. The result has been enormous destruction, death, despair, and downright evil – what is more commonly called “sin.”
The blessings of creation are meant to be stewarded, in the way of husbanding and housekeeping, for the true meaning of dominion is tied to the constellation of meanings around house and household. There have been strands of the biblical tradition which have kept this sacred understanding alive, but the unholy quest for domination has sought to quench it, in favor of wanton accumulation and exclusive possession of the goods of creation for an individual or a small part of the blessed family of God.

After that eviction from the primordial garden, the biblical stories are mostly about how human communities strive to return to a homeland that will be a source of blessing for the community. Through the long centuries, the prophetic understanding of that community broadens to include all the nations of the earth. Even so, the seemingly eternal struggle between dominators and stewards has continued to the present day.

Most of the passages in the Bible that talk about land are yearning for a fertile place, where people are able to grow crops, tend flocks, and live in peace. The offspring of those first human beings gave rise to peoples who hungered for land, and many of them did a great deal of violence through the ages in order to occupy and possess it. They weren’t alone, for the empires of Alexander, Rome, and Genghis Khan were also the result of amassing conquered territory. The Christian empires of Europe were consumed with battles over land for centuries, and eventually sent military expeditions across the Mediterranean in a quest to re-establish a Christian claim on what they called the Holy Land.

The explorers who set out from Christian Europe in the 15th century went with even broader motivations, in search of riches and abundantly fertile lands. They also went with religious warrants, papal bulls which permitted and even encouraged the subjugation and permanent enslavement of any non-Christian peoples they encountered, as well as the expropriation of any territories not governed by Christians[5]. Western Christian religious authorities settled competitions over these conquests by dividing up the geography that could be claimed among the various European nations.

These religious warrants led to the wholesale slaughter, rape, and enslavement of indigenous peoples in the Americas, as well as in Africa, Asia, and the islands of the Pacific, and the African slave trade was based on these same principles. Death, dispossession, and enslavement were followed by rapid depopulation as a result of introduced and epidemic disease. Yet death and dispossession of lands and resources were not a singular occurrence that can be laid up to the depredations of benighted medieval warriors. They are not akin to Viking raids in the British Isles, or ancient struggles between neighboring tribes in Europe or Africa. These acts of “Discovery” have had persistent effects on marginalized, transported, and disenfranchised peoples.

The ongoing dispossession of indigenous peoples is the result of legal systems throughout the “developed” world that continue to base land ownership on these religious warrants for colonial occupation from half a millennium ago. These legal bases collectively known as the Doctrine of Discovery underlie U.S. decisions about who owns these lands[6]. The dispossession of First Peoples continues to wreak havoc on basic human dignity. These principles give the lie to biblical understandings that all human beings reflect the image of God, for those who have been thrown out of their homeland, had their cultures largely erased, and sent into exile, are still grieving their loss of identity, lifeways, and territory. All humanity should be grieving, for our sisters and brothers are suffering the injustice of generations. The sins of our forebears are being visited on the children of indigenous peoples, even to the seventh generation.

There will be no peace or healing until we attend to that injustice. The prophets of ancient Israel cried out for justice when their ability to live in the land they saw as home was threatened. A day laborer named Amos challenged those around him with the word of God, “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream”[7]. Where there is no justice, there can be no peace for anyone.

In the North American context, the poorest of the poor live on Native reservations. The depth of poverty there is closely followed by the poverty among ghettoized descendants of the indigenous peoples of Africa who were transported to these shores as slaves. That kind of poverty is also frequent in other parts of the world where indigenous people have been dispossessed and displaced. Healing is not possible, it is not even imaginable, until the truth is told and current reality confronted. The basic dignity and human rights of first peoples have been repeatedly transgressed, and the outcome is grievous – poverty, cultural destruction, and multi-generational consequences. The legacy of grief that continues unresolved is visible in skyrocketing suicide rates, rampant hopelessness, and deep anger. In many contexts it amounts to pathological or impacted grief – for when hope is absent, healing is impossible.

The legacy of domination includes frightful evil – the intentional destruction of food sources and cultural centers like the herds of North American bison, the intentional introduction of disease and poisoning of water sources, wanton disregard of starvation and illness, the abuse and enslavement of women and children, the murder of those with the courage to protest inhumane treatment, the repeated dispossession of natural resources, land, and water, as well as chronically inadequate Federal management and defense of Native rights and resources.

There have been some glimmers of justice in decisions that have returned Native fishing and hunting rights, and some improvements in tribal rights to self-determination. There is a very small and slow return of bison to the prairie, and wolves have begun to return in places where they are not immediately hunted down. Yet many of these recoveries continue to be strenuously resisted by powerful non-Native commercial interests.
There are signs of hope in returning cultural treasures to their communities of origin, and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act[8] is returning remains for dignified burial. The legacy of cultural genocide is slowly being addressed as indigenous traditions, languages, and cultural skills are taught to new generations.

The Episcopal Church has been present and ministering with Native peoples in North America for several centuries. That history of accompaniment and solidarity has hardly been perfect, yet we continue to seek greater justice and deeper healing.

The Episcopal Church’s relationship with Native peoples in the Americas begins with the first English colonists. We remember the story of Manteo, a Croatan of what is now North Carolina. He traveled to England in 1584 and helped a colleague of Sir Walter Raleigh learn to speak Algonquin. He returned here the next year, became something of an ambassador between the two peoples, was baptized, and is counted a saint of this church[9].

Episcopal missionaries have served in a variety of indigenous communities and contexts. Henry Benjamin Whipple was Bishop of Minnesota in 1862, and his powerful petition to Abraham Lincoln saved the lives of some 265 of the Dakota men sentenced to hang the day after Christmas in Mankato[10]. The Dakota people called him “Straight Tongue.” Today many Dakota and Lakota people are part of this Episcopal tradition.
This Church has stood in solidarity with native peoples in Alaska, Hawai’i, and the American southwest, especially the Diné (Navajo), as well as in urban Indian communities. The Poarch Band of Creek Indians (in Alabama) achieved federal recognition in the 1980s with the aid of baptismal records maintained by this Church, which also assisted in returning a piece of land to the Poarch Band[11]. A large group of indigenous people in Ecuador is seeking recognition as worshiping communities in the Episcopal tradition, and we have other indigenous members and communities in Colombia, Venezuela, Honduras, and Micronesia. Our historical presence in the Philippines began with the indigenous Igorot peoples of the mountains and highlands.
Healing work continues across The Episcopal Church. In 1997 Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning apologized for the enormities that began with the colony in Jamestown[12]. Today our understanding of mission has changed. We believe that God’s mission is about healing brokenness in the world around us – broken relationships between human beings and the Creator, broken relationships between peoples, and damaged relationships between human beings and the rest of creation. We seek to partner in God’s mission through proclaiming a vision of a healed world; forming Christians as partners in that mission; responding to human suffering around us; reversing structural and systemic injustice; and caring for this earthly garden[13]. We partner with any and all who share a common vision for healing, whether Episcopalian or Christian or not.
Work with indigenous peoples in recent years has been intensely focused on issues of poverty and the generational consequences of cultural destruction, the reality of food deserts and diabetes rates on reservations, unemployment and inadequate educational resources, as well as the ongoing reality of racism and exclusion in the larger society[14]. Mission and development work in Native communities is locally directed, honoring the gifts and assets already present[15], and moves toward a vision of healed community. We partner with White Bison in community organizing that develops training programs for community healing[16]. This is a historic development, the first such partnership between a traditional Native American non-profit and The Episcopal Church.

This Church has worked to alleviate systemic and structural injustice in many ways, and our repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery in 2009 is a recent example[17]. Since at least 1976, our advocacy work has included support for First Nations land claims in Canada, advocacy with the U.S. government for improved health care, religious freedom, preservation of burial sites and repatriation of remains and cultural resources, increased Federal tribal recognition, and critical Federal Government self-examination around Native American rights. We have affirmed and reaffirmed our desire to strengthen relationships with Native peoples by remembering the past, recognizing the deficits and gifts in our historic and current relationships, and continued work toward healing[18]. We are currently advocating for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, with provisions directly affecting Native women.

The Doctrine of Discovery work of this Church is focused on education, dismantling the structures and policies based on that ancient evil, support for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples[19], and challenging governments around the world to support self-determination for indigenous peoples.
We seek to address the need for healing in all parts of society, and we stand in solidarity with indigenous peoples globally to acknowledge and address the legacy of colonial occupation and policies of domination. Our Christian heritage has taught us that a healed community of peace is only possible in the presence of justice for all peoples. We seek to build such a beloved community that can be a sacred household for all creation, a society of right relationships.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us… and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near… So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God[20].

We pray that God will give us the strength and courage to do this work together for the good of all our relations, in the belief that Christ Jesus ends hostility and brings together those who were once divided.

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church

"CHURCH LADY: Mother to many: St. Mark’s reverend spiritual journey brings her to Marco Island" by Kathleen Tuttle of  the Napels News

Many call her Mother. Some call her Sue. She’s a retired geologist who did environmental studies at the Hanford Site Cleanup, a complex in south-central Washington State that supported the Manhattan project. Her childhood summers spent at her family’s cabin in Glacier Park, Mont. shaped her spiritual formation and choice of vocations. Her name is the Rev. Sue Price, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church’s assisting priest.

“You couldn’t see the park’s beauty and not think about a Creator,” said Price, recalling how each summer 10 families and 40 children would retreat to the park. Her father was a Presbyterian deacon and another dad was a Presbyterian minister. Every Sunday, they would hold services in “The Wildwood,” a simple clearing in the woods surrounded by wildflowers, with log seats and a hand-hewn pulpit.

She married Bill Price, a cradle Episcopalian and fellow geologist and joined the Episcopal Church. The newlywed never dreamed that someday she would be an Episcopal priest. “God certainly has a sense of humor,” said Price.

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by the Episcopal Church, Office of Public Affairs

Questions for panelists about the General Convention 2012 of the Episcopal Church can be submitted now at publicaffairs@episcopalchurch.org as well as during the May 9 live webcast.

The live webcast, originating from Indianapolis, the site of this year’s General Convention, can be accessed live or on demand at www.episcopalchurch.org. It will begin at 1 pm Eastern (noon Central, 11 am Mountain, 10 am Pacific, 9 am Alaska, 8 am Hawaii).

Participants in the live webcast will be: Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori; President of the House of Deputies Bonnie Anderson; Executive Officer and Secretary of the General Convention, the Rev. Gregory Straub; and Bishop Catherine Waynick of the Diocese of Indianapolis, the host diocese.

Questions will be accepted via email at publicaffairs@episcopalchurch.org and from the invited guests in the audience.

To access the live webcast, go to the Episcopal Church website: www.episcopalchurch.org.

General Convention 2012 (GC12) will be held July 5 – 12 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.
The Episcopal Church’s General Convention is held every three years, and is the bicameral governing body of the Church. It is composed of the House of Bishops, with upwards of 200 active and retired bishops and the House of Deputies, with clergy and lay representatives elected from the 110 dioceses of the Church, at more than 800 members.

General Convention: generalconvention.org/gc
Diocese of Indianapolis indydio.org/diocese2010
The Episcopal Church: www.episcopalchurch.org

"Episcopal leaders offer forgiveness, burial for Maryland shooter of priest and church worker" by  Associated Press, Published: May 9 in the Washington Post

The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland is offering forgiveness and a funeral service for a homeless man who killed himself after fatally shooting a priest and church secretary last week. 

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A piano played, a bell rang and a congregation that less than three days before was shaken and stunned by tragedy continued to move toward healing.

"The Episcopal Church is in pain and agony today," said the Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, bishop of The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland. "Two wonderful woman have been slain in this place."

"This day is focused on our grief," he said later, "our shared grief and love for our sisters."

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Statement from the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland

The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland is saddened beyond words by the shootings May 3 at St. Peter's Church in Ellicott City, Maryland. The Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, bishop of Maryland, immediately offered prayers for the victims in the chapel of the Cathedral of the Incarnation, Baltimore, when he learned the news later that evening. Clergy of the diocesan staff have been present with the parish and members of the St. Peter’s staff, and have said prayers over the victims. The diocese holds the victims, their families, and the people and staff of St. Peter's Church and pre-school in its continued prayers. A nearby Episcopal church, St. John's Parish in Ellicott City, opened their doors late Thursday evening to offer a place of support and prayer.

Howard County police are investigating the shooting. According to them, two women, Brenda Brewington, administrative assistant, and the Rev. Mary-Marguerite Kohn, co-rector of the parish were found shot inside the church office yesterday just after 5 pm. A custodian called 911.

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In two years, just over 20,000 people have become fans of Unapologetically Episcopalian on Facebook. The group's founder, the Rev. Ron Pogue says, "I wanted to create a space for people to express their gratitude for the Episcopal Church and what God is doing in our churches." As Pogue puts it, “It was time to change the conversation from one of fear to one of hope, from rancor to gratitude.”

To celebrate 20,000 fans and two years of life, Pogue is encouraging fans of Unapologetically Episcopalian – and anyone who loves the Episcopal Church – to make a thank-offering donation to Forward Movement. “I love what Forward Movement is doing to make our church stronger and more vibrant,” Pogue said.

The executive director of Forward Movement, the Rev. Scott Gunn said, “For more than 75 years, Forward Movement has worked to reinvigorate the life of the church. I am thrilled that the virtual community of Facebook would rally around strengthening the Episcopal Church and the ministries of Forward Movement.”

Click here to continue reading.

Click here to make a donation to one of the Unapologetically Episcopalian projects through Forward Movement. 

After you spend time and energy trying to learn something, sometimes God gives you an opportunity to put it into practice, ready or not. And that's a good thing because it compels us to live what we've learned. For me, it happened the moment I walked out the door after an anti-racism training workshop.

As part of my involvement in The Episcopal Church, I recently spent a day at the workshop at Atlanta's Cathedral of St. Philip. The leaders had structured the information around a model of spiritual formation, so we participants began the day with the Eucharist, coming together around the bread and wine that inhabits the heart of our faith.

In groups small and large throughout the day we grappled with the issues. I found myself overwhelmed by how much institutional racism -- and personal racism -- we still need to overcome even in our churches. I became aware of the phenomena of internalized oppression and white privilege, and caught a glimpse of how we can build transformed churches where anyone is welcome and embraced no matter who they might be.

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by the Rev. Andrea Baker, North American Liaison, Episcopal Bilingual Schools of Honduras

Honduras is the home of seven Episcopal bilingual schools and the Rev. Andrea Baker, North American Liaison for the schools, is seeking English speaking teachers to serve for 1-2 years. The schools welcome applications from retired teachers, recent college graduates, and others interested in teaching abroad.

The school year runs from mid-August to mid-June. Students in Honduras graduate after Grade 11 and several students each year apply to college in the U.S. Each school provides housing and a modest monthly stipend for North American teachers.

The schools are:

El Buen Pastor in San Pedro Sula (Preschool-Grade 11)
St. John’s in Puerto Cortes (Preschool-Grade 11)
Holy Spirit in Tela (Preschool-Grade 11)
Holy Trinity in La Ceiba (Preschool-Grade 11)
St. John’s in Siguatepeque (Preschool-Grade 2, new school adding a grade each year)
St. Mary’s in Tegucigalpa (Preschool-Grade 11)
Epifania in Villanueva (Kindergarten-Grade 6, school in transition to Aug-June calendar)

Please visit Episcopal Bilingual Schools of Honduras for more information on the schools. 

If you, or someone you know, is interested in exploring this unique ministry, please contact the Rev. Andrea Baker at episcopalschools.hn@gmail.com. 

FACT's national survey of 11,077 of the nation's 335,000 congregations, released in March, found seven in 10 U.S. congregations had websites, and four in 10 had Facebook pages by 2010, Thumma says.

The use of QR codes is too new to be measured yet, Thumma says. He recently began tracking churches that stream their worship — about 1% of congregations, Thumma estimates...

You can sing along with a new tablet hymnal from Church Publishing. In March, the Episcopal Church's publishing house released eHymnals for the iPad and other digital readers. 

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Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the leader of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion, recently announced that he would step down by year's end. A few days later, the Church of England rejected a Williams-backed unity plan for global Anglicanism, a church fractured by issues of gender and sexual identity. The timing of the resignation and the defeat are probably not coincidental. These events signal Anglicans' institutional failure. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams at Westminster Hall on March 20. Dan Kitwood - WPA Pool/Getty Images Take Action on This Issue War No More Ten years. Thousands of lives. Billions of dollars.

But why should anyone, other than Anglicans and their Episcopal cousins in the U.S., care? The Anglican fight over gay clergy is usually framed as a left and right conflict, part of the larger saga of political division. But this narrative obscures a more significant tension in Western societies: the increasing gap between spirituality and religion, and the failure of traditional religious institutions to learn from the divide.

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This Tuesday, April 25th, is World Malaria Day. Great progress has been made in fighting this preventable disease. However, thousands, mostly children, still die. Please consider buying a $12 net and training to help with the work being done to address this problem. Your donation will also be doubled, thanks to generous matching donations to Episcopal Relief & Development.

Donate online at er-d.org or mail a check to Episcopal Relief & Development at P. O. Box 7058, Merrifield, VA 22116-7058.

The 77th General Convention of the Episcopal Church takes place July 5 – 12, 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana. 

Click here for more information on volunteering.

Click here to view our automated registration page.

Click here to view the General Convention schedule. 

“Mobile Apps for Churches” is the topic of the next Digital Formation webinar, slated for April 20 at 1 pm Eastern (noon Central, 11 Mountain, 10 Pacific).

Pre-registration is required. To register for the free webinar, click here.

A joint program of the General Theological Seminary (GTS) of the Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Church Office of Communication, Digital Formation is an educational series for clergy and laity to understand and appreciate the importance of the use and effects of social media in the church as well as its theological foundations and implications.

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General Convention 2012 of the Episcopal Church will be the topic of a live webcast on Wednesday, May 9 at 1 pm Eastern (noon Central, 11 am Mountain, 10 am Pacific, 9 am Alaska, 8 am Hawaii). The webcast, originating from Indianapolis, the site of this year’s General Convention, can be accessed live or on demand at www.episcopalchurch.org.

Participants in the live webcast will be: Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori; President of the House of Deputies Bonnie Anderson; Executive Officer and Secretary of the General Convention, the Rev. Gregory Straub; and Bishop Catherine Waynick of the Diocese of Indianapolis, the host diocese.

Questions will be accepted via email at publicaffairs@episcopalchurch.org and from the invited guests in the audience.

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In Christian art, including Michelangelo and Hollywood biblical films, the maleness of God has long been highlighted. Seldom has there been a depiction of deity or spiritual strength that remotely suggested a woman like Eleanor Roosevelt or Marian Anderson, Helen Keller or Barbara Jordan.

However, extraordinary change was in the air in July 1974 when 11 women shattered tradition by being ordained Episcopal priests. Ironically, I became involved when invited -- as a male -- to write a cover story about it for groundbreaking Ms. Magazine. From my perspective, by following the anthropomorphism that depicted God as male, the church failed in its witness to God and came close to committing institutional suicide. The idea of receiving the Host from the hand of a woman apparently confronts some people with grave difficulties. Could this stem from the life experience of praying "Our Father who art in heaven" while one was mentally on one's knees before a male God? Was the male priest before whom one knelt in church to receive Holy Communion a surrogate figure of a familiar bearded and patriarchal God?

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Beginning in Lent and continuing through May 25, donors have the opportunity to make their dollars go even further toward fighting malaria in Africa. During this period, any donation made to the NetsforLife® Inspiration Fund will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $430,000, thanks to a group of generous Episcopal Relief & Development donors. This means nearly $1 million will be raised to fight malaria in sub-Saharan Africa, through the NetsforLife® program partnership.

Any size gift to the NetsforLife® Inspiration Fund – online, by mail or by phone – will be matched in full until May 25, or as long as matching funds are available. We encourage donors to also consider taking advantage of company matching programs as well.

At the 2009 General Convention, the Episcopal Church made the NetsforLife® Inspiration Fund the centerpiece of its prophetic response to the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. The NetsforLife® Inspiration Fund is a church-wide, grassroots effort to educate, engage and unite Episcopalians to fight against malaria in the 2010-12 triennium. All Episcopalians are invited to learn more about this disease and how to prevent it, and contribute towards this important undertaking. The goal is to raise $5 million by December 2012.

“The NetsforLife® Inspiration Fund Matching Gift Challenge is an invitation for you to play a meaningful role in our global fight against malaria, and help us get to the finish line,” said Joy Shigaki, Director of the NetsforLife® Inspiration Fund and Church Campaigns for Episcopal Relief & Development. “This special springtime matching campaign highlights the importance and widespread impact of the NetsforLife® program partnership, and calls every Episcopalian to do their part in helping us stop malaria.”

NetsforLife® has been a leader in malaria prevention by distributing over 7.7 million nets and reaching over 37 million people in 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa since 2006. The programcombats malaria by educating community members about proper net use and maintenance, training community agents to deliver life-saving nets, and providing ongoing monitoring and evaluation of malaria prevention practices. These activities are carried out in partnership with churches and faith-based groups in remote areas across the continent, and result in less sickness, fewer deaths and stronger communities. To learn more about NetsforLife®’s innovative approach, the significant impacts in the field, and the gains made in malaria control, please join Episcopal Relief & Development for a special webinar on April 17, 2012, from 6:00-7:00pm EDT.

“Joining together in the fight against malaria, through NetsforLife® and the NetsforLife® Inspiration Fund, is a great way for individuals and congregations to support the Millennium Development Goals and make a real difference in communities throughout sub-Saharan Africa,” said Rob Radtke, President of Episcopal Relief & Development. “We are grateful to the donors who are providing the matching funds, for enabling us to double the impact of every gift we receive by May 25 and continue toward our goal of raising $5 million by the end of the year. The NetsforLife® program has demonstrated remarkable results year after year, and is truly deserving of the wholehearted support so many have shown.”

To have your gift matched, simply make a donation on or before May 25 to the NetsforLife® Inspiration Fund or NetsforLife® to ensure your contribution will be matched. Click here to double your impact and donate today!

Episcopal Relief & Development is the international relief and development agency of the Episcopal Church and an independent 501(c)(3) organization. The agency takes its mandate from Jesus’ words found in Matthew 25. Its programs work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Episcopal Relief & Development works closely with the worldwide Church and ecumenical partners to help rebuild after disasters and to empower local communities to find lasting solutions that fight poverty, hunger and disease, including HIV/AIDS and malaria.

Reminder: we have a new phone number! Call toll free, 1.855.312.HEAL

The Episcopal Church Office of Communication is partnering with Washington National Cathedral to provide live webcasts of worship services on Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, and Good Friday, as well as the Great Easter Vigil on Saturday and Easter Service on Sunday morning. All will be available at no fee at www.episcopalchurch.org/page/live-demand-worship.

“We could not ask for a better partner in showing the beauty and diversity of worship in the Episcopal Church especially during Holy Week and Easter,” commented Mike Collins, manager of multimedia services for the Episcopal Church.

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Click here to view the National Cathedral video worship archive

Click here to view the on demand Holy Week services

How are sermons heard today? What can preachers do to improve their reception? What role do social media, technology and innovation play?

Clergy from around the country will gather to explore these questions and more April 23-26 at the National Episcopal Preaching Conference at Kanuga Conferences, Inc.

Co-sponsored with the Episcopal Preaching Foundation, this third annual conference will explore emerging patterns of proclamation with some of the country’s most innovative church leaders and theologians. A rewarding post-Easter respite, the conference will focus on the theme “Recasting the Sermon: What Language Shall We Borrow?”

Conference participants will also have the chance to receive feedback on one of their own sermons in small preaching groups. These small groups meet daily around Kanuga’s scenic campus, allowing time for reflection, prayer and advice in an intimate peer-based setting.

Keynoters include:

Shane Hipps, teaching pastor at Mars Hills Bible Church, founded by Love Wins author Rob Bell in Grandville, Mich. His books include The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture: How Media Shapes Faith, the Gospel and Church and Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith.

Tony Jones, author, blogger and social commentator who serves as theologian-in-residence at Solomon’s Porch, a holistic missional Christian community in Minneapolis, Minn. His books include The Church Is Flat: The Relational Ecclesiology of the Emerging Church Movement, The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier and The Sacred Way: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life.

The Rev. Dr. Ruth Meyers, Hodges-Haynes Professor of Liturgics at Church Divinity School of the Pacific. She also serves as a priest associate at All Souls Episcopal Parish in Berkeley, Calif. She chairs the Episcopal Church’s Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music and is an associate member of the Council of Associated Parishes for Liturgy and Mission. Her publications include Continuing the Reformation: Re-Visioning Baptism in the Episcopal Church, Worship-Shaped Life: Liturgical Formation and the People of God, co-edited with Paul Gibson, and numerous articles.

Dr. Lauren Winner, author of Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis, Girl Meets God and Mudhouse Sabbath. The former book editor for Beliefnet, she has appeared on PBS’s Religion & Ethics Newsweekly and has written for The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post Book World, Publishers Weekly and more. With degrees from Duke, Columbia and Cambridge universities, she is currently serving as an assistant professor of Christian spirituality at Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C.

“Preaching is actually communicating practical theology and doing it in a way that engages the people who come and worship in our sanctuaries,” Jones said. “I’m excited about meeting with other people who are similarly committed to this and talking about our theology, our differences, our similarities and learning from one another. I hope that people come away with their imagination stoked. Just to be in that catalytic kind of environment where we can talk about ideas that matter, I think I’ll come away with a renewed sense of imagination when it comes to communicating biblical and theological ideas and I hope that’s everybody’s experience.

The Rev. Dr. William Brosend of the Sewanee School of Theology returns as conference coordinator and will be joined by the Theodicy Jazz Collective, a group of musicians from New Haven, Conn.

Affiliated with the Episcopal Church since 1928, Kanuga is a 1,400-acre camp and conference center in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Hendersonville, N.C. Financial aid and discounted rates for commuters are available. For more information, visit www.kanuga.org or call 828-692-9136.

Congregations around the Episcopal Church are invited to commemorate Episcopal Relief & Development Sunday on February 26, 2012.  At the 2009 General Convention, Lent was designated as a time to remember and support the organization’s work worldwide.  Many congregations will do so on the first Sunday in Lent, though the day may be observed on any other Sunday during Lent or throughout the year.  Resources and more information are available online through www.er-d.org/Lent/.

“This special Sunday is an opportunity for congregations to connect to Episcopal Relief & Development and its mission,” said Rob Radtke, the agency's President.  “As a compassionate response of the Episcopal Church to suffering worldwide, the organization seeks to empower local communities to overcome poverty, hunger, disaster and disease, build up the Body of Christ, and express Christian solidarity with our global brothers and sisters.  Episcopal Relief & Development Sunday is an occasion for all Episcopalians to consider how they can make a positive impact in the lives of others, through supporting life-giving programs and advocating for social justice within the Church.”

During this Lenten season, Episcopal Relief & Development is placing a particular focus on malaria prevention and education through the NetsforLife® program partnership and the NetsforLife® Inspiration Fund.  Donations made in connection with Episcopal Relief & Development Sunday and the organization’s Lenten resources will benefit these initiatives.  The NetsforLife® Inspiration Fund is a grassroots effort to educate, engage and unite Episcopalians to support the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and join the fight against malaria. The goal of the campaign is to build awareness about the disease and how it can be prevented, and raise $5 million for NetsforLife® by December 2012.

“We are excited and grateful that more than 2,600 churches have become actively engaged in local efforts to support the NetsforLife® Inspiration Fund,” said Joy Shigaki, Director of the NetsforLife® Inspiration Fund and Church Campaigns for Episcopal Relief & Development.  “We hope that the special Lenten focus on malaria and NetsforLife® will help strengthen those efforts and invite other congregations to take part in this important Church-wide campaign.”

Episcopal Relief & Development’s 2012 Lenten Meditations booklets, available online in English and Spanish at www.er-d.org/Lent/, encourage readers to reflect on the need for physical healing in the world, and on the opportunity for spiritual healing during Lent.  Those wishing to receive daily email meditations in both languages may sign up online.  Booklets are also available in print from Episcopal Media Center; regular and expedited shipping options are available.  A variety of additional materials to support Episcopal Relief & Development Sunday, including hope chests, prayer cards and a bulletin insert, are available on the organization’s website.

To learn more about Episcopal Relief & Development, visit. er-d.org.

Resources, meditations and study guides for experiencing a reflective Lenten season are available from the Episcopal Church.

Also on the Episcopal Church Facebook page, an ongoing conversation focuses on Ash Wednesday/Lent.

The resources have been complied by the Mission staff of the Episcopal Church.

Click here to view list of available resources...

Gay marriage supporters rejoiced Feb. 7 after an appellate court ruled California’s controversial Proposition 8, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman, is unconstitutional.

“Today’s 9th Circuit Court decision is not just a victory for gay and lesbian couples in California – it is a victory for all Americans who believe that the “liberty and justice for all” in the pledge we teach our children really means ALL,” according to an email statement from the Rev. Canon Susan Russell, a former president of Integrity USA, a group that works for full inclusion of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered people in the Episcopal Church.

“It is also a victory over those who erroneously believe that the freedom of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment gives them freedom to write their theology on marriage— or anything else— into our Constitution,” added Russell....Click here to continue this article.

Click here to view statement by Bishop Beisner following today's ruling.
 

Bishop Gene Robinson's life and ministry is profiled in a new film set to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on Monday. The movie, "Live Free or Die," is a documentary look at the strains in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion surrounding Bishop Robinson's election, consecration and ministry.

"The film follows Robinson as the church grapples with how to handle LGBT issues. Robinson’s election brought to a head divisions between liberal and conservative members of both the Episcopal Church in the United States and the worldwide body of which it is a part, the Anglican Communion.

Filmmakers followed Robinson to England in 2008, where he was excluded from a global gathering of bishops called the Lambeth Conference. And they followed him to the Episcopal Church’s 2009 General Convention, where leaders voted to give bishops discretion to permit blessings of same-sex marriages, civil unions or domestic partnerships (where legal) and allow gay men and women to become bishops.

Click here to continue...

Lenten Meditation books from Episcopal Relief & Development are now available. The 2012 book follows the daily lectionary, with the meditations coauthored by a group of clergy and laity. There are some changes in the 2012 book to note:

- Orders are now placed with the Episcopal Media Center by phone: (866) 937-2772, or online: episcopalmarketplace.org. The books are free, except for shipping and handling. Orders should be placed by Friday, February 10 to assure arrival before Ash Wednesday, February 22.

- A Spanish language version of the book is also available.

General Convention and the Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California (along with many other dioceses), passed a resolution to designate the first Sunday in Lent, February 26,  Episcopal Relief & Development Sunday to highlight the work and programs of Episcopal Relief & Development and encourage donations to support this work. If your congregation is interested in planning an Episcopal Relief & Development Sunday on February 26 or any other Lenten Sunday, click here for more information.

For any questions, please contact Jane Snibbe, Diocesan Coordinator for Episcopal Relief & Development: dickjanespot@comcast.net, or (707) 894-8558.

For more information about Episcopal Relief & Development, visit er-d.org.

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have issued a joint letter for World AIDS Day 2011. The text of the letter follows:

November 29, 2011

World AIDS Day is December 1, 2011. This annual commemoration is an opportunity for us to remember the 30 million lives that have been lost to the deadly pandemic over the past three decades, to rededicate our energies in support of those 34 million living with HIV and AIDS today and to work toward building a future without AIDS.
World AIDS Day is an opportunity for each of us to reflect on God’s call to lift up the dignity and value of each person. We are called to confront this pandemic—whose scale has no precedent in human history—through prayer, by speaking out to eliminate stigma and discrimination against those living with HIV and AIDS, by caring for those afflicted by the virus in our own communities, by advocating for strong government support of life-saving programs, and by supporting the global effort to alleviate the global systems of poverty within which HIV and AIDS is so endemic.

Click here to continue...

The application process for the 2011 United Thank Offering grants is now open with forms available here. Known worldwide as UTO, the United Thank Offering grants are awarded for projects that address human needs and help alleviate poverty, both domestically and internationally within Anglican provinces, dioceses, and companion dioceses.

Applications are due January 15, 2012. Grants will be approved in July 2012 at Triennium at General Convention. Funds for approved grants will be available starting August 2012 for a one-year grant period.

UTO information and contact info are available: www.episcopalchurch.org/uto.
Complete instructions, application forms, and additional info are available here.

Information important for applying for the grants:

- one application may be submitted by each diocese of the Episcopal Church, with diocesan bishop approval;

- one application may be submitted by a U.S. diocese of the Episcopal Church on behalf of an overseas Companion Diocese (the Companion relationship may be formal or informal), with approval by both diocesan bishops;

- one application may be submitted by invited provinces of the Anglican Communion, with approval by the Archbishop or Primate or Provincial Secretary and, if applicable, the diocesan bishop.

For more information email utoapps@episcopalchurch.org or call the UTO Office at 800/334-7626, ext. 5130 or ext. 6022. Paper copies of the application are not accepted. If there is a problem accessing the Internet for the online application, please contact the UTO office.

New and updated resources for dioceses and congregations who are about to launch campaigns to support the Rebuild Our Church in Haiti appeal are now available online. In addition to the practical tools, news and progress reports already available, there are newly updated communications materials (weekly bulletin inserts and e-communications), as well as seasonally relevant materials:

Advent Devotional - This advent devotional, Advent Reflections, was written by the seminarians at Seminaire de Théologie Episcopale d’Haïti. Working with volunteer Kyle Evans (Diocese of Pennsylvania), each student picked a day in Advent and chose a verse from the assigned readings on which to write a reflection and prayer. These can be shared in congregations to help pass on the hope rising from the ruins in Haiti. Click here to download the devotional as a Word document.

Gift Card - Participants can now give friends and family the gift of renewal by buying a brick toward the new cathedral. This fun gift card makes a great stocking stuffer, Thanksgiving place card, teacher or office gift. Click here to download the gift card as a PDF.

Sample Fundraiser Ideas - For congregations looking for inspiration for a fundraiser, examples of already successful fundraising ideas from innovative Episcopalians across the globe are available. Click here to download these ideas as a Word document.

Rebuild Our Church in Haiti is a national, grass-roots effort launched on the 1st anniversary of the magnitude seven earthquake that decimated Haiti in 2010. The appeal was authorized by Executive Council in response to the request from Bishop Jean Zach Duracin and the people of Haiti to help rebuild the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

For volunteer information or questions, contact our diocesan campaign coordinator, the Rev. Cliff Haggenjos: haggenjos@comcast.net or (916) 786-6911.

More information can be found online: www.episcopalchurch.org/haitiappeal or by contacting Terri Mathes: tmathes@episcopalfoundation.org, or (717) 599-0627. 

The Episcopal Church House of Bishops, meeting in Province IX, in Quito, Ecuador, issued the following Pastoral Teaching:

A Pastoral Teaching from the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church
Quito, Ecuador
September 2011

We, your bishops, believe these words of Jeremiah describe these times and call us to repentance as we face the unfolding environmental crisis of the earth:

How long will the land mourn, and the grass of every field wither? For the wickedness of those who live in it the animals and the birds are swept away, and because people said, “He is blind to our ways.” (Jeremiah 12:4)

The mounting urgency of our environmental crisis challenges us at this time to confess “our self-indulgent appetites and ways,” “our waste and pollution of God’s creation,” and “our lack of concern for those who come after us” (Ash Wednesday Liturgy, Book of Common Prayer, p. 268). It also challenges us to amend our lives and to work for environmental justice and for more environmentally sustainable practices.

Christians cannot be indifferent to global warming, pollution, natural resource depletion, species extinctions, and habitat destruction, all of which threaten life on our planet. Because so many of these threats are driven by greed, we must also actively seek to create more compassionate and sustainable economies that support the well-being of all God’s creation.

We are especially called to pay heed to the suffering of the earth. The Anglican Communion Environmental Network calls to mind the dire consequences our environment faces: “We know that . . . we are now demanding more than [the earth] is able to provide. Science confirms what we already know: our human footprint is changing the face of the earth and because we come from the earth, it is changing us too. We are engaged in the process of destroying our very being. If we cannot live in harmony with the earth, we will not live in harmony with one another.”[i][i]

This is the appointed time for all God’s children to work for the common goal of renewing the earth as a hospitable abode for the flourishing of all life. We are called to speak and act on behalf of God’s good creation.

Looking back to the creation accounts in Genesis, we see God’s creation was “very good,” providing all that humans would need for abundant, peaceful life. In creating the world God’s loving concern extended to the whole of it, not just to humans. And the scope of God’s redemptive love in Christ is equally broad: the Word became incarnate in Christ not just for our sake, but for the salvation of the whole world. In the Book of Revelation we read that God will restore the goodness and completeness of creation in the “new Jerusalem.” Within this new city, God renews and redeems the natural world rather than obliterating it. We now live in that time between God’s creation of this good world and its final redemption: “The whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for . . . the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:22-3).

Affirming the biblical witness to God’s abiding and all-encompassing love for creation, we recognize that we cannot separate ourselves as humans from the rest of the created order. The creation story itself presents the interdependence of all God’s creatures in their wonderful diversity and fragility, and in their need of protection from dangers of many kinds. This is why the Church prays regularly for the peace of the whole world, for seasonable weather and an abundance of the fruits of the earth, for a just sharing of resources, and for the safety of all who suffer. This includes our partner creatures: animals, birds, and fish who are being killed or made sick by the long-term effects of deforestation, oil spills, and a host of other ways in which we intentionally and unintentionally destroy or poison their habitat.

One of the most dangerous and daunting challenges we face is global climate change. This is, at least in part, a direct result of our burning of fossil fuels. Such human activities could raise worldwide average temperatures by three to eleven degrees Fahrenheit in this century. Rising average temperatures are already wreaking environmental havoc, and, if unchecked, portend devastating consequences for every aspect of life on earth.

The Church has always had as one of its priorities a concern for the poor and the suffering. Therefore, we need not agree on the fundamental causes of human devastation of the environment, or on what standard of living will allow sustainable development, or on the roots of poverty in any particular culture, in order to work to minimize the impact of climate change. It is the poor and the disadvantaged who suffer most from callous environmental irresponsibility. Poverty is both a local and a global reality. A healthy economy depends absolutely on a healthy environment.

The wealthier nations whose industries have exploited the environment, and who are now calling for developing nations to reduce their impact on the environment, seem to have forgotten that those who consume most of the world’s resources also have contributed the most pollution to the world’s rivers and oceans, have stripped the world’s forests of healing trees, have destroyed both numerous species and their habitats, and have added the most poison to the earth’s atmosphere. We cannot avoid the conclusion that our irresponsible industrial production and consumption-driven economy lie at the heart of the current environmental crisis.

Privileged Christians in our present global context need to move from a culture of consumerism to a culture of conservation and sharing. The challenge is to examine one’s own participation in ecologically destructive habits. Our churches must become places where we have honest debates about, and are encouraged to live into, more sustainable ways of living. God calls us to die to old ways of thinking and living and be raised to new life with renewed hearts and minds.

Although many issues divide us as people of faith, unprecedented ecumenical and interfaith cooperation is engaging the concern to protect our planet. And yet, efforts to stop environmental degradation must not be simply imposed from above. Those most affected must have a hand in shaping decisions. For example, we welcome efforts in the United States to involve Native American tribal leaders and to empower local community organizations to address environmental issues. Similar strategies need to be employed in myriad communities in various locales.

Our current environmental challenges call us to ongoing forms of repentance: we must turn ourselves around, and come to think, feel, and act in new ways. Ancient wisdom and spiritual disciplines from our faith offer deep resources to help address this environmental crisis. Time-honored practices of fasting, Sabbath-keeping, and Christ-centered mindfulness bear particular promise for our time.

Fasting disciplines and heals our wayward desires and appetites, calling us to balance our individual needs with God’s will for the whole world. In fasting we recognize that human hungers require more than filling the belly. In God alone are our desires finally fulfilled. Commended in the Book of Common Prayer, fasting is grounded in the practices of Israel, taught by Jesus, and sustained in Christian tradition. The ecological crisis extends and deepens the significance of such fasting as a form of self-denial: those who consume more than their fair share must learn to exercise self-restraint so that the whole community of creation might be sustained.

Sabbath-keeping is rooted in the Book of Genesis, where the seventh day is the day in which God, humans, and the rest of creation are in right relationship. In our broken world, keeping the Sabbath is a way of remembering and anticipating that world for which God created us. Sabbath requires rest, that we might remember our rightful place as God’s creatures in relationship with every other creature of God. Such rest implicitly requires humans to live lightly on the face of the earth, neither to expend energy nor to consume it, not to work for gain alone, but to savor the grace and givenness of creation.

The practice of Christ-centered mindfulness, that is, the habitual recollection of Christ, calls believers to a deepened awareness of the presence of God in their own lives, in other people, and in every aspect of the world around us. Such spiritual perception should make faithful people alert to the harmful effects of our lifestyles, attentive to our carbon footprint and to the dangers of overconsumption. It should make us profoundly aware of the gift of life and less prone to be ecologically irresponsible in our consumption and acquisition.

In assuming with new vigor our teaching office, we, your bishops, commit ourselves to a renewal of these spiritual practices in our own lives, and invite you to join us in this commitment for the good of our souls and the life of the world. Moreover, in order to honor the goodness and sacredness of God’s creation, we, as brothers and sisters in Christ, commit ourselves and urge every Episcopalian:

~ To acknowledge the urgency of the planetary crisis in which we find ourselves, and to repent of any and all acts of greed, over consumption, and waste that have contributed to it;

~ To lift up prayers in personal and public worship for environmental justice, for sustainable development, and for help in restoring right relations both among humankind and between humankind and the rest of creation;

~ To take steps in our individual lives, and in community, public policy, business, and other forms of corporate decision-making, to practice environmental stewardship and justice, including (1) a commitment to energy conservation and the use of clean, renewable sources of energy; and (2) efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle, and whenever possible to buy products made from recycled materials;

~ To seek to understand and uproot the political, social, and economic causes of environmental destruction and abuse;[ii][ii]

~ To advocate for a “fair, ambitious, and binding” climate treaty, and to work toward climate justice through reducing our own carbon footprint and advocating for those most negatively affected by climate change.

May God give us the grace to heed the warnings of Jeremiah and to accept the gracious invitation of the incarnate Word to live, in, with, and through him, a life of grace for the whole world, that thereby all the earth may be restored and humanity filled with hope. Rejoicing in your works, O Lord, send us forth with your Spirit to renew the face of the earth, that the world may once again be filled with your good things: the trees watered abundantly, springs rushing between the hills in verdant valleys, all the earth made fruitful, your manifold creatures, birds, beasts, and humans, all quenching their thirst and receiving their nourishment from you once again in due season (Psalm 104).

[i][i] From “The Hope We Share: A Vision for Copenhagen,” a statement from the Anglican Communion Environmental Network in preparation for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), December 2009.

[ii][ii] We are indebted to the Episcopal Bishops of New England for their earlier 2003 Pastoral Letter, “To Serve Christ in All Creation.” Several of these “commitments” and other phrases herein are quotations or adaptations of their work.

For more info contact:
Neva Rae Fox
Public Affairs Officer
The Episcopal Church
publicaffairs@episcopalchurch.org
212-716-6080 Mobile: 917-478-5659

Michael Schut, Episcopal Church Economic/Environmental Affairs Officer, has announced the availability of tuition subsidies and the scheduling of two free webinars regarding the partnership between the Episcopal Church and GreenFaith.

For the past year, the Episcopal Church has been in partnership with GreenFaith, a leading national religious environmental group, to assist churches of all sizes in their efforts to “go green” through a certification program.

The GreenFaith Certification Program is a two-year, holistic process engaging an entire congregation through education, worship, environmental justice advocacy, building and grounds, and developing relationships with the larger interfaith community.

The Economic/Environmental Affairs Office and GreenFaith are underwriting 50% of the tuition for churches, enabling them to enroll for a discounted cost of $250 – $750. Churches in the program receive guidance and support, including one-on-one mentoring, resources, free webinars, and peer support.

Application deadline for tuition subsidies for the program is December 1 and May 1, 2012. Click here for more information about the subsidies.

Additionally, GreenFaith is offering two free hour-long webinars to help congregational leadership understand the program and to answer questions and address concerns.

“Sign-up for one of the upcoming webinars to find out how you can join this holistic two-year greening program,” Schut said. “It’s well supported by excellent staff and has the potential to save your congregation money as well as re-vitalize ministry within your community.” 

Webinars will be held:

Monday, September 19, 5:30 pm

Thursday, October 6 at 5 pm

To participate in a webinar or for more information, contact Stacey Kennealy: skennealy@greenfaith.org. Recordings of the webinars will be available online afterwards for those that cannot participate.

According to GreenFaith’s Executive Director, the Rev. Fletcher Harper, the program is the nation’s first interfaith environmental certification program designed specifically for houses of worship. The program empowers churches, mosques and temples to become strong environmental leaders by following researched and tested environmental guidelines.

Goals of Episcopal Church-GreenFaith partnership, Schut explained, include supporting the development of faithful, strong environmental leadership; helping congregations learn to reduce their operating costs; and modeling creation care, spirituality and justice throughout a congregation’s life and practice. Among the tools and resources provided by GreenFaith to participating churches are webinars, web-based resources, and phone/email support.

“The GreenFaith Certification Program has inspired and guided us to take our environmental efforts to the next level, making them more holistic and spiritually based,” commented Rosera Tateosian of St David’s in Austin, TX.

“Any question we have, any resource we need, the GreenFaith staff are quick to respond and they always have an encouraging word for us,” noted Marion Pound, a lay leader at Grace Church in Chattanooga, TN.

For more information about the partnership, contact Schut: mschut@episcopalchurch.org.