[edow] Church House News

[Church House News]

OCTOBER 16, 2008

*** The weekly bulletin for clergy, wardens, diocesan committee members,
convention delegates and church administrators in the Episcopal Diocese
of Washington ***

REGIONAL ASSEMBLIES 2008
Clergy, wardens and convention delegates are entitled to vote and should
plan to come to this year's Regional Assemblies. Other members of the
vestry are encouraged to come as well to participate in discussions. For
information on how to submit nominations, etc., visit
www.edow.org/regionals
* Region 1: 8:30 a.m. to noon Oct. 18 (Saturday) at St. Patrick's, D.C.
* Region 2: 8:30 a.m. to noon Oct. 18 (Saturday) at St. Patrick's, D.C.
* Region 3: 1:15 to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 18 (Saturday) at St. Luke's, Bethesda
* Region 4: 1:15 to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 18 (Saturday) at St. Luke's, Bethesda
* Region 5:  6:15 to 9:15 p.m. Oct. 22 (Wednesday) at Holy Trinity,
Bowie
* Region 6:  8:30 a.m. to noon Oct. 25 (Saturday) at St. Paul's, Waldorf

MDG MINISTRIES IN THE DIOCESE  
The Millennium Development Goals Committee is compiling a storybook of
MDG ministries within the diocese. If your parish or organization has
one or more MDG ministries, please provide the following information:
Title of ministry; implementing parish or organization; name of MDG
contact, e-mail and phone; description of ministry and intended
beneficiaries; materials on the ministry; source of funding. Please
complete a separate list for each ministry. Members of the MDG Committee
will be available to collect stories or answer any questions at the
upcoming Regional Assemblies (see above). Submit stories, comments and
queries to Janeschubert at aol.com  

GRISWOLD TO LEAD ADVENT RETREAT AT ST. COLUMBA'S
The Rt. Rev. Frank T. Griswold, former presiding bishop of the Episcopal
Church and a noted retreat leader and spiritual guide, will lead an
Advent Quiet Day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 13 at St. Columba's, D.C.
(4201 Albemarle St., NW). Lunch will be provided at a cost of $10.
Please reserve a place by calling 202/363-4119.

INTERFAITH CONCERT SET FOR NOV. 18
The InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington's 29th InterFaith
Concert, "A Celebration of the Sacred in Song, Dance and Chant," is set
for 7:30 p.m. Nov. 18 at Washington National Cathedral. Participants
come from the Baha'i, Hindu-Jain, Islamic, Jewish, Latter-day Saints,
Protestant, Roman Catholic and Sikh communities. This year's honorees
will be Akbar Ahmed and his family. CBS news correspondent Kimberly
Dozier will serve as mistress of ceremonies. For further information,
visit www.ifcmw.org, call 202/234-6300 x 202 or e-mail jan at duplain.com.

UTO INVITES PRAYER SUBMISSIONS FOR BOOKLET
The United Thank Offering Committee is compiling a booklet of original
prayers emphasizing thankfulness. The finished volume will make its
debut at the United Thank Offering Booth at the 2009 General Convention
in Anaheim, Calif. Deadline is Oct. 26; Please send submissions to Wilma
Johnson at 39 Nichols Street, Wellsboro, PA 16901 or e-mail to
wjohns at ptd.net (preferred).

PLEASE REMEMBER IN YOUR PRAYERS
Please keep the following clergy and members of the diocese in your
prayers this week:
*  Bishop Bill Spofford - at the time of his wife's death (Polly)
*  Francis Sayre (Dean Emeritus of Washington National Cathedral) -
prayers for his family at the time of his death. Memorial Service set
for 1 p.m. Oct. 26 at the Cathedral
*  Tom Dixon - personal health
*  David MacDonald - personal health and brother's health (Johnny) 
*  Jessee Neat - personal health
*  Jeffrey MacKnight - father's failing health (Frank)
*  Leslie St. Louis and partner (Alice) - personal health
*  Michael Marrett - personal health
*  Sarah Duggin - personal health
*  Travers Koerner - personal health next 
* Claudia Tielking - son's health (Josh) - beginning next phase of
treatment

>>> REMINDERS:

CLERGY AS CAREGIVERS PROGRAM 
ESM Cares, the geriatric care management service of Episcopal Senior
Ministries, will offer a special program to the Episcopal clergy in the
Diocese who are caring for their older family members. The program, set
for 9 a.m. to noon Dec. 2 in the Undercroft of Grace, Silver Spring,
will offer support and resource information. For more information and to
register contact Mary Ann Buckley at 202/364-0020 or mbuckley at esm.org 

2008 CHILDREN TO CHILDREN ADVENT APPEAL
Materials are being mailed this week to parishes for this year's
Children to Children Appeal which will raise funds to purchase
anti-malaria bed nets for children and their families in Mozambique. The
mailings, which are being sent to "Directors of Sunday School/Christian
Education," contain an activity guide for use with your children during
Advent. Contact person is Cheryl Daves Wilburn at cwilburn at edow.org
 
DAYSPRING CENTER OFFERS TWO RETREATS
The Dayspring Silent Retreat Center in Germantown is offering the
following retreat: Encircling the World with Compassion and Love, Dec.
5-7 led by Patience Robbins, a spiritual director and director of the
Personal Spiritual Deepening Program at the Shalem Institute for
Spiritual Formation. To learn more, visit www.dayspringretreat.org  

 
REMEMBERING BETHLEHEM THIS CHRISTMAS
The second annual Joint Simulcast Worship Service with the People of
Bethlehem is set for 9:30 a.m. Dec. 20 in Washington National
Cathedral's Bethlehem Chapel. Stand in solidarity with Bethlehem's
suffering Christians. The service is sponsored by the Ad Hoc Committee
for Bethlehem, the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation, Sharing
Jerusalem and Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace. For
further information, contact Grace Said at gsaid at comcast.net or
301/951-5270.

STEWARDSHIP WORKSHOP 
Values and Money: Set for 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 25 at Episcopal Church
House. Led by Patricia Bjorling, director of stewardship for the Diocese
of Virginia. Explore the relationship between spiritual life and
possessions. Free; light refreshments will be served. Sign up at
edow.org/events

PALESTINIAN EMBROIDERY AND OLIVE OIL PRE-HOLIDAY SALE
The eighth annual Palestinian Embroidery and Olive Oil Pre-holiday Sale
is set for 5 to 8 p.m. Nov. 14 and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 15 at
Westmoreland Congregational United Church of Christ, 1 Westmoreland
Circle, Bethesda. The sale will include traditional and modern
embroidery from Palestinian refugee camps and cooperatives in Gaza, the
West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria and olive oil from the West Bank.
Please note that credit cards are not accepted. For more information
contact Gretchen Theobald at gheobald at mindshpring.com or 202/244-2753 or
Pamela Mertz at MertzMD at aol.com or 301/229-0973 or (cell) 301/512-4694.

AMERICA AND THE WORLD: PICKING UP THE PIECES
Foreign policy analysts Brent Scowcroft, Zbigniew Brzezinski and David
Ignatius will discuss how America can connect with a changing world
during a 7 p.m. Oct. 21 program sponsored by the Nancy and Paul Ignatius
Program Fund at Washington National Cathedral. Steve Lemons of New
America Foundation will offer an introduction. Responses from global
voices include Haili Cao, foreign editor of Caijing magazine, China;
Trevor Mwamba, bishop of Botswana, and Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie
Endowment for Peace, with a wrap up by New York Times columnist Thomas
Friedman. There is no charge, but registration is required at
www.nationalcathedral.org

DISCIPLES OF CHRIST IN COMMUNITY (DOCC) 
This fall, DOCC is offered in a new format of back-to-back weekends:
Oct. 24-26 and Oct. 31-Nov. 2. This exploration of the heart of
Christianity covers the same material as the longer course, featuring
small group conversation. Call 202/537-2335 for information; register at
www.nationalcathedral.org
 
CLERGY: APPLY NOW FOR THE SUMMER COLLEGIUM
Applications are now being accepted for the Summer Collegium, a Lilly
Endowment project in support of small congregations. Twenty-five clergy
and spouses/partners from all Christian denominations will be invited to
Virginia Theological Seminary for "Body, Mind and Soul: Celebrating,
Strengthening and Sustaining Clergy Wholeness in Small Congregations"
from June 24 to July 1. Applications must be postmarked by Dec. 15. All
expenses for the event are paid for by the grant. For more information
and an application, visit  www.vts.edu/education/collegium or call
Marilyn Johns at 703/461-1760.
 
RACIAL RECONCILIATION WORKSHOP
Registration is now open for the Nov. 14-15 Racial Reconciliation
Workshop, which will be held at St. Paul's, Piney. Register at
www.edow.org/events "Racial Reconciliation Workshop"  

ARE YOU READY FOR THE DIGITAL CONVERSION? 
The Senior Ministry of Trinity, D.C. (7005 Piney Branch Road) invites
you to a program at 10 a.m. Oct. 21: "Preparing for the Digital
Television Transition." Francine Jefferson of the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration will speak and take
questions. The program is free and no reservations are required. Contact
Diane Robinson, director for senior ministry, at DLR814 at aol.com with
questions.

DISCERNING MISSION IN COMMUNITY   
The Rev. Sam Portaro will present the Fall 2008 endowed lecture,
"Discerning Mission in Community," cosponsored by the Episcopal/Anglican
Campus Ministry, UMD and St. Andrew's College Park, at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 2
at St. Andrew's, College Park. The Rev. Portaro, a noted Anglican
author, was Episcopal Chaplain at the University of Chicago for 25
years, and is former president of the Episcopal Society of Ministries of
Higher Education. All are welcome.
 
ADVENT SILENT RETREAT
The Diocesan Retreat Committee will hold an Advent Silent Retreat at the
Cathedral College on Dec. 5-7. The theme of the retreat will be "The
Lord said to Moses "Why do you cry out to me? Tell the people to get
moving!" The Rev. John Carleton Hayden, will lead the retreat. Drawing
upon the biblical account of Moses, Hayden will speak about a
discipleship that weaves together identity, conversion, freedom and
vocation. The fee is $195. Scholarships are available. To reserve a
space, applications and a deposit of $100 must be received by Nov. 7.
Visit www.edow.org/retreat for information and application instructions,
or call Joan Shelton at 202/232-1667.

ACCESSIBLITY GRANTS  
The Comis Foundation solicits proposals for projects to increase
accessibility within churches in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.
The Foundation will award matching grants of up to 50 percent of project
costs and up to a maximum of $30,000 per award.  The deadline for
submission of proposals is Nov. 1. Instructions for preparation and
submission of proposals are at www.comisfoundation.org. Address
inquiries to ComisFoundation at aol.com

SPEAKERS AVAILABLE (JUBILEE OFFICER AND ERD REP)
Is your parish looking for a forum for this fall and winter? John Miers,
the diocesan Jubilee Officer and Martha Jenkins, diocesan coordinator
for Episcopal Relief and Development are happy to hold a forum for your
parish to discuss their respective roles and the organizations they
represent. Please contact John Miers at johngmiers at comcast.net about
outreach-oriented Jubilee Centers or Martha Jenkins at
mjenkins108 at aol.comto schedule a date on your parish calendar. 

FALL 2008 SAFEGUARDING GOD'S CHILDREN TRAININGS
Trainings for Safeguarding God's Children (prevention of child abuse)
will resume in September. This training is required for all paid
full-time staff and any volunteers who work with children and youth,
including Christian Education leaders and Sunday School teachers. All
training sessions are on Saturday unless otherwise indicated. 
* Oct. 25 (9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.); St. Peter's, Poolesville
* Nov. 8 (9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.); Transfiguration, Silver Spring
* Dec. 2 (Tuesday: 6 to 10 p.m., with dinner); St. Columba's, D.C.
* Dec. 13 (9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.); St. Mary's, D.C. 
Registration will be available soon at www.edow.org/prevention 
   
CONTRIBUTING TO THE BISHOP JOHN T. WALKER SCHOOL
Contributions for the planned Bishop John T. Walker School for Boys can
be sent to: The Bishop John T. Walker School, Episcopal Church House,
Mount St. Alban Washington, D.C. 20016 or visit
www.bishopwalkerschool.org

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