eMatters

The Presiding Bishop has asked every member and every congregation of The Episcopal Church to pray for God’s blessing and guidance on the Lambeth Conference (16 July – 4 August) and the Anglican Communion this Sunday.  There are resources available: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78695_97608_ENG_HTM.htm

www.lambethconference.org

Two prayers especially have been suggested:

“Pour down upon us, O God, the gifts of our Holy Spirit that those who prepare for the Lambeth Conference may be filled with wisdom and understanding.  May they know at work within them that creative energy and vision which belong to our humanity, made in your image and redeemed by your love, through Jesus Christ our Lord..   AMEN.”

“O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever, AMEN.  (BEC p. 515)

Please keep praying for the Anglican Communion and the Lambeth Conference from now until Lambeth is over.  Prayer is at the heart of our life together in the Anglican Communion.  Prayer is a gift we can give to God, to our Anglican sisters and brothers and to God’s world at this strategic time of global need.

Does your parish have two pews that you’ve removed and would like to get rid of?  We’ve been asked this question by a friend of the diocese.  If you do, please let Sue O’Hare know.  We’ll pass the information along so that the person who would like them can make arrangements with you to come pick them up.

The first mailing for the Diocesan Convention has been sent which means the delegates of the parishes who have not sent in their Delegate Certification Forms have not received this mailing.  If you have not yet submitted your Parish Officials or Delegate Certification form(s) please submit them as soon as possible.

The new bishop of the Diocese of Liberia will be visiting our diocese beginning tomorrow (June 20).  During his visit Bishop Scruton will present him with a check for over $35,000.  The check represents the tithe of Alleluia Funds for the past several years, monies from Diocesan Convention offerings, AND monies given by the many parishes throughout the diocese.  The money will buy two trucks to be used by outlying deaneries to do their mission and ministry.  Thank you to every parish that contributed to this fund.  Thank you to all who have made Alleluia Fund offerings.  And thank you to those who made offerings at Diocesan Convention.

Offerings to the Alleluia Fund not only help to buy trucks for the Diocese of Liberia, they also support the growing congregation in Southwick.  People who had fallen away from church now worship regularly at Southwick Community Episcopal Church thanks to your generous Alleluia Fund Offerings.  And this year the tithe of the Alleluia Fund offerings will be devoted to the Diocese of Kumasi in Ghana as well as the Diocese of Liberia.  Please remember that contributions can be made by check, or they can be made by credit card by using the secure link on the Diocesan web site.  Making one’s offering electronically is easy, quick and safe.  Thank you for everything you have done to support the Alleluia Fund.

Dear friends,

Thank you for your emails, phone calls, cards and well wishes on my retirement.

22 years ago,  Bishop Wissemann invited me to join the Diocesan Staff.  I began in the Financial area with John Farquharson and his staff and also worked for Lil Hagan who was the Christan Education Director at the time. Over the years, I also worked for Mary Lou Lavallee, George Councell and Pat Coller.  In those 22 years there have been three Bishops - Andrew Wissemann, Bob Denig and Gordon Scruton.

All of you in the diocese, in the parishes, on the committees, commissions and task forces have been a blessing to me over the years.  Some of you have shared deaths, births, good news and bad news with me.

The bishop’s office can be a very busy, hectic, holy place to work, and I will always feel privileged to have been a part of so many lives whether it was a phone conversation, a letter, a remarriage, a meeting or someone just dropping by to say hello.  I will miss all of you who have been so much a part of my life for the past 22 years, and all of you will remain in my prayers.

My plans for retirement are:  to rest, read and travel and not to commit to anything for a while.  I just need some time to “be” right now.  I will enjoy working in the yard, re-learning to play golf, following the Red Sox, knitting and spending more time with my husband, my two children, my two granddaughters.

Thank you all for being a part of my life.

Blessings and much love,

Joyce

Just a reminder that eMatters is on our diocesan website and is also available here:

http://diocesewma.wordpress.com/

You can subscribe to the RSS feed and have the eMatters articles show up in your inbox.

“First-time filmmaker Katrina Browne makes a troubling discovery — her New England ancestors were the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. She and nine fellow descendants set off to retrace the Triangle Trade: from their old hometown in Rhode Island to slave forts in Ghana to sugar plantation ruins in Cuba. Step by step, they uncover the vast extent of Northern complicity in slavery while also stumbling through the minefield of contemporary race relations. In this bicentennial year of the U.S. abolition of the slave trade, “Traces of the Trade” offers powerful new perspectives on the black/white divide. An official selection of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. “

If you visit this website (http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2008/tracesofthetrade/preview.html), you can watch a free preview of the show.

Broadcast Date:
Tuesday, Jun 24, 2008 at 10PM (90 minutes) on WGBY channel 57 Springfield … Check local listings for other PBS stations that may also be carrying the show.

If you currently use Church Windows software (or are contemplating the purchase of the software), you may want to attend a Regional Training which will be held in Western Massachusetts. Computer Helper Publishing, Inc. (publisher of Church Windows software) will offer a 3-day training  at St. Mark’s Church in East Longmeadow August 19-21, 2008.  The training will be offered in 1/2 day sessions: Accounting I, II on Tuesday; Contribution I, II on Wednesday; and Membership I, II on Thursday.  For Support Customers the cost is $75 per person per 1/2 day class.  For Non-Support Customers the cost is $110 per person per 1/2 day class.  These classes fill up quickly, for more information Contact Computer Helper (Telephone 800-533-5227,  email training@churchwindows.com, or visit www.churchwindows.com.  Church Windows is one of 2 software packages that offer an “Episcopal” version which could be helpful when it comes time to complete your annual Parochial Report.  Currently between 8-13 churches in the diocese use this software (some use only some of the modules).

A Web Based Information Service for Your Church—

Exclusively Available Through the Diocese of Western Massachusetts and our new contract with Percept.

How to Get There. . .

1. Type www.link2lead.com into your web browser

2. To register for the first time, select the REGISTER button on the left menu

3. Select your denomination - EPISCOPAL

4. Select your regional body - Diocese of Western Massachusetts

BRAND NEW FOR 2008

Link2Lead users now have three study area options! Instead of a single ZIP Code, the standard study

area is now a Radius boundary around your church location. For many users this will provide the best

demographic picture of the population in close proximity to the their church, however, ZIP Code and

County boundaries are also a couple of clicks away as alternative study areas for MinistryMatch,

10 Facts and downloadable Instant FirstView reports.

Add to your MinistryMatch knowledge for your area. What changes are projected to take place during the next five years? What are some faith facts I can learn about people in the area? The answers to these questions and dozens of others

are located in the 10 Facts Series.

With FirstView Maker you can create any study area boundary for your church that you want! This self-service tool is unmatched among demographic information providers. Make your own FirstView reports for free, whenever you

want, in real time. It’s easy! Follow three simple steps and click the Submit button.

Percept’s servers instantly go to work creating a six-page color report for you with your custom title, exporting an Adobe PDF file, and sending the download link to your email inbox. Within a few minutes you’ll be viewing your completed FirstView report wherever you are, anytime of day or night…even in the middle of a leadership meeting. You can combine ZIP Codes, size a Radius, or even draw a Polygon boundary using our simple interactive mapping tool.

FirstView is Percept’s six-page, full color, graphical demographic report on a selected study area. Instant FirstViews can now be downloaded as Adobe PDF files directly from the website for either a radius around the church, a county boundary, or a selected ZIP Code area. And if you need to create a custom study area boundary, the new, interactive FirstView Maker is now available to Link2Lead users.

Specially Discounted Custom Resources…

If you are interested in a full demographic information package on any size and shape geographic area (radius, ZIP Code or polygon), consider a Ministry Area Profile. Each Ministry Area Profile is produced by Percept and shipped to you. You save $190. When you are ready to do a comprehensive comparison of your community and congregation ,we recommend you consider a Context report. The report is accompanied with a mission planning process called ReVision. You save $400.

2009 Congregational Development Investment Applications

are Due October 15, 2008

Go online here — http://www.diocesewma.org/resources/forms.html

ALSO - 2009 Regional Ministry Initiatives Grant applications are due

the same day.  The final deadline for 2009 applications: Oct 15, 2008.

If you know of children who are hoping to go to Bement Camp and have not yet registered, please advise them that it is time to register as camp is filling up quickly and summer is almost here.  To register online go to www.bementcamp.org.

If you are interested in having a traveling VBS program come to your church this summer, or would like more information about this exciting program, please contact The Rev. Jill Williams at jwilliams@diocesewma.org.

A Deacon Orientation Meeting will be held at Diocesan House on Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 7PM. Persons interested in pursuing a call to serve the church as a vocational Deacon (formerly called Permanent Deacon) are invited to attend but must be accompanied by their rector or priest-in-charge. For further information and to RSVP contact the Rev. Ed King, St. John’s, North Adams, 413-664-9656 or stjohnspriest@earthlink.net

As of June 11th please note the following new address for The Rev. Betsy Fowle:

Elizabeth and Stephen Fowle

15 Old Hancock Road

Hancock, NH 03449

(603) 525-3571

Revbets@aol.com

June 2008

June22          Bishop’s Visitation to St. Paul’s, Holyoke 10:00 am

June 26         Diocesan Council Meeting, 2:00 pm

June 29         Bishop’s Visitation to Nativity, Northborough 9:30 am

August 2008

August 17               Bishop’s Visit to St. Paul’s, Otis 9:30 am

September 2008

September 19-20         Diocesan Council Retreat at Bement

September 23            Wardens Dinner at Publick House Historic Inn, Sturbridge, MA

September 30            Fall Clergy Day at Bement

October 2008

October 4       Safe Church Training Workshop at All Saints Church, Worcester,              9-2 pm

October 17, 18  Diocesan Convention, Sheraton, Springfield

Candidate for Holy Orders

Will be ordained to the Sacred Order of Priests

In the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church

By The Rt. Rev. Gordon P. Scruton

Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western MA

On Saturday, June 7, 2008 at 10:00 in the morning

The Episcopal Church of the Reconciliation

5 North Main Street

Webster, MA

Your prayers and presence are requested.

Clergy:  Red Stoles

The first mailing for the Diocesan Convention will be sent next week.  As of today we are still waiting to receive Parish Officials Forms and Delegate Certification Forms from a few of our parishes. It is important that we receive these forms in order to keep your convention delegates up to date with their mailings.  If you have not yet submitted your form(s) Please submit them as soon as possible.

We are grateful that Alleluia Fund offerings continue to be made.  Generous people in our diocese are making thanks-offerings that support our new church in Southwick and will help us strengthen our ties to the Diocese of Liberia and  the Diocese of Kumasi in Ghana.  Please remember that contributions can be made by check or by credit card and they can be made using the secure link on the Diocesan web site.  Making one’s offering electronically is easy, quick and safe.  Thank you for everything you have done to support the Alleluia Fund.

The Diocese of Massachusetts has invited us to join with them in lobbying efforts when legislation affecting the homeless is considered in our state legislature.  Anyone wishing to participate in this effort is encouraged to email Canon Shofstall (canon@diocesewma.org) with their contact information, including email address.  You will then receive regular emails alerting you to pending legislation so that you can contact your representatives and encourage others in your congregations to do the same.  Periodically (about once a year) you will be invited to participate in a lobbying day in Boston.