Visioning Days Question from the Northern Deanery:

I wonder what it would be like to introduce people to the humanity of Jesus, so that divinity might be discovered?
 

Administrative items:

• Along the King’s Highway – The April edition was mailed and should be in your homes.  Please submit articles or comments for future editions to Edy Unthank at: editor[atecr]edecr.org
• Deployment/Position Postings – Detailed postings for jobs can be seen by clicking on the following link: http://www.edecr.org/jobs.htm .
  • Santa Maria Urban Ministry - Treasurer
  • St. Peter's by the Sea – Morro Bay - music director.
  • All Saints Carmel - bookkeeper.
  • Director of Music – All Saint’s Palo Alto
  • Program Officer: Evangelism and Congregational Life, National Church, New York
     

• Vestry/Bishop Committee Training (including Treasurers-Administrators) We had 129 church leaders attend the first 3 sessions! A 4thsession for those who couldn’t make last week’s sessions will be offered on Saturday morning June 7 from 9:00 to 12pm. Thank you! All wardens, vestry/bishop committee members, treasurers, parish administrators, and clergy are encouraged to attend. Topics to be presented include: roles and responsibilities, business methods in church affairs, risk management, church finances and legal issues. This will be a basic overview of these subject areas - an introduction or general review of vestry/bishop committee functions. The following are the locations and dates:

  • June 7th – St. Paul’s in Salinas – 9:00-12pm - All
    
    See attached registration form. Send to Susan Altig at the Diocesan office or susan[atecr]edecr.org Please share these dates and times with your Vestry, Bishop’s Committee and Treasurers, and come as a group. Rectors and Vicars are welcome to attend in addition to parish administrators. If you have any questions, please contact me at:  brian[atecr]edecr.org  or 831-394-4465.
     

Announcements:

• New: Exploring End of Life Questions - St. Mark’s, Santa Clara - Saturday, April 12, 1-3pm- Are you concerned about talking with your family about end of life decisions? Do you have questions about writing a will, planning a memorial service, or what to include in a health care directive? No matter how old we are, these are questions all of us need to consider. Join us for a panel discussion to help sort out these issues and develop tools for planning ahead. Please RSVP to 408-296-8383 or office@st-marks.org .
• Western District Cursillo Meeting: Theme: REKINDLE THE FIRE on Saturday, April 12, 8:30AM – 4PM at Trinity Cathedral, 81 North Second St., San Jose, CA 95113. See attached registration form.
• Trip to Camp Coast Care in Mississippi - Our Diocese is planning a mission trip to Mississippi Camp Coast Care May 3 - 10 or May 4 - 11, 2008. There is an urgent need for volunteers to help Gulf coast residents get back into homes. Many are still in FEMA camps, tents and trailers over 2 years after Katrina. Persons with some experience in any type of construction are desperately needed but all volunteers are important and utilized. If you can cook, paint, pound nails, install tile, clean up, put on roofing, use a saw, read a level, clean the bathrooms or dorm room, you are needed at Camp Coast Care. There are some construction supervisors on staff but both experienced and non-experienced helpers are needed. Our group is already registered as the El Camino Real group using my name as contact person. We need to make our plans soon in order to reserve space in camp. If you are at all interested in going on this trip, please e-mail me and I will answer all your questions. You should also go to www.campcoastcare.com  and watch the videos and read the information. Please join us on this 2nd diocesan trip to Mississippi. Together we can be the hands and feet of Jesus on the Gulf coast. Sheila Vossler, mabear2[atecr]sbcglobal.net .
• De Colores - The Santa Clara Servant Community is in the final stages of preparation for the upcoming Cursillo Weekend at Camp St Francis in La Selva. The dates for the weekend are May 1-4, 2008. The team has been working since November getting ready for another unforgettable experience for your candidates. Cursillo is an experience that enhances the grace GOD has freely given to all of us with instructions to share with each other. Cursillo has also lead many people to further their Christian development, some to the point of working to join the clergy, others to become more active in the Lay leadership within their congregations and/or the diocese. To help the team, we need to receive your candidate applications as soon as possible. We would like to place a tentative cutoff date for the 19th of March. That will give the Cursillo Board time to review applications and get them to the team for their final preparation. The number of candidates is limited to around 30, so don’t wait or yours may miss out this year. Applications can be downloaded at www.sccursillo.org . If you need more information, contact your Cursillo Parish rep or email chair[atecr]sccursillo.org  or weekend[atecr]sccursillo.org . Thank you all for your assistance and God bless you all.
• Monterey County Prayer Breakfast at NIGHT! The date is Thursday, April 24, from 6 – 8:30PM at the Golden State Theater in downtown Monterey, where the Wurlitzer will be played and a100-voice choir will sing. To make your reservation, go to www.montereyprayerbreakfast.com . Questions? Call Beth Heston of St. Dunstan’s at 831-333-9088. See attached flyer for more information.
• The Church of the Good Shepherd is the location for the Integrity Eucharist with Bishop Mary at 4:00pm Saturday, May 3, 2008. For more information, please email helenm@ucsc.edu or cfahrenbach@cruzio.com .
• Announcing the 9th annual SAMA Middle Eastern Feast, to be held 13 April 2008 at St. Andrew's, Saratoga. This year, the Middle Eastern Feast will include an auction. SAMA - St. Andrew's Medical Assistance - exists to provide hope and healing to a hurting world. SAMA raises funds annually through our annual Middle Eastern Feast and Auction and our Christmas Crafts sale. Medical Programs SAMA supports in the Holy Land include: Ahli Arab Hospital (the only Christian hospital in Gaza), and the Four Homes of Mercy (a home for the severely disabled based in Jerusalem). More information on SAMA and our 13 April fundraising event is on the web page at http://st-andrews-sama.org/ . Contact katy.dickinson@sun.com  with any questions.
• Our Diocese is starting a World Mission Network - Saturday, April 19 9:30am-12:30pm at St. George's Salinas, we invite each congregation to send members to participate in this Discernment Day. Hear the voices of the world community that are speaking through the partnerships in our diocese and share your own congregations mission partnership. We will celebrate the ministry already going on, and begin to discern a vision for our future walk together. For more details go to http://www.edecr.org/f/Cal-WorldMission-200804.pdf .
• On Saturday, April 26, Holy Spirit Episcopal Church will be conducted a healing mission sponsored by its chapter of the International Order of St. Luke the Physician (OSL). We are privileged to have an international guest speaker, the Venerable John Scott. He is a parish priest with 35 years of pastoral experience. He has served on all of the Ministry of Healing committees of the Church of Ireland and is currently chair of an organization “The Churches Council for Health & Healing” which coordinates the work of the healing ministry within all associated churches in Ireland. He is also the Ireland Associate Warden of OSL. Participants may also choose to attend one of three workshops offered that day: "Celebrate Recovery", "When Two or Three are Gathered Together", or "Healing for Broken Hearts and Dreams." For more information please see our website http://oslmission.holyspiritcampbell.org/  or email us for a brochure at osl@holyspiritcampbell.org .
• Youth ministry:
  • VOICE & VISION OF OUR YOUTH A DAY OF HOLY CONVERSATION WITH OUR YOUTH AND BISHOP MARY Saturday, May 3rd 10:00 am – 1:00 pm St. Paul’s Salinas. Did you know that “thus” in the word Enthusiasm, comes from the word “theos,” the Greek word for God. To be enthusiastic means to be filled with God. What are you enthusiastic about? What makes you feel close to God and close to Church? Join us in a day of enthusiastic exploring, wondering and connecting for all youth, youth leaders, associates and rectors. This event is brought to you by the Diocesan Youth Network. RSVP to Rev Laurel Johnston curatelaurel@sbcglobal.net  Please bring $5.00 for lunch.
  • Youth Leadership Weekend at St. Paul’s Salinas: This is overnight beginning April 25 through the 26th, times to be determined. The event is for all youth who have attended New Beginnings and/or Happening and are still in High School.
  • Diocesan Youth Mission Trips for 2008: This summer our youth will have the opportunity to serve Native American populations in Nevada through Sierra Service Project. http://www.sierraserviceproject.org / Our diocese has a 5-year history of teaming with SSP for our mission trips. This year we plan to send two groups to the Walker River Paiute reservation in early summer, coordinated by Leann Brooks and Robin Denney. The trips are now full, but we are still accepting applicants to be put on a waiting list. Please contact Leann Brooks at: leannbrooks[atecr]hotmail.com if you are interested. Separate applications for the Middle School and High School youth are attached for completion and submission by February 15th with a $100.00 deposit. The first trip, June 29-July 5, is for high school youth who will be entering 9th grade in the fall of 2008 through those graduating in the summer of 2008. Experienced counselors from ECR (including Bishop Mary) will accompany our youth and other church youth groups will join us at the reservation. The second trip, July 14-19, is a brand new opportunity for Middle School students and is for youth entering 6th through 8th grades in the fall. This will be a smaller group and the program is being specially crafted for the younger audience.
  • Episcopal Youth Event (EYE) – Between the 2 youth mission trips, the 2008 EYE will be held in San Antonio, TX from July 8-13 at Trinity University. The theme for the event is, “Sown in the Heart of Christ”. This event is for youth that have completed grades 9, 10, 11, or 12 by this Spring and who have not begun to attend college. El Camino Real has space reserved for 15 to attend (12 youth and 3 adult sponsors). The cost for the event is $480 per person that includes room and meals and ground transportation in Texas. Airfare to San Antonio is extra. To register, you need to contact the diocesan office. There is only one registrar per diocese, so you can not sign up on your own. Lastly, if you are an adult youth leader, and would be willing to help coordinate the ECR contingent, please contact me at the diocesan office (831-394-4465) or brian[atecr]edecr.org . 
  • Youth Katrina Relief Summer Mission Trip: June 14-20, 2008: Trip is full.
  • Honduras Youth Trip - There is an opportunity for our youth to go on a mission trip to Honduras. Sierra Service Project (the organization also running our Diocesan Youth Trip to Nevada) runs this program. Robin Denney, (our diocesan missionary who just returned from Liberia) is leading one of the trips (July 14-July 28). The trip is open to high school juniors, seniors, and college age young adults, who have had some previous mission experience. The trip costs $2,000 for each participant. SSP staff will talk parents through the steps required for obtaining passports and necessary documentation, and will answer any security related questions. View more information online: http://www.sierraserviceproject.org/honduras_info.htm  To sign up, get the registration form online at the above link, or call the SSP office at: (916) 488-6441. Applications must be received by March 1, with a $300 deposit.

Important Training / Dates to mark on your calendars:

• Reminder from the Conference Education Resource Team - The Magnetic Church Conference – a new way of looking at evangelism within a spiritual context - May 16, 17, St. Andrew’s, Saratoga. Our speaker, Andrew Weeks, will invite us into new creative ministries, not urge us to take on more tasks. He will challenge us to explore new opportunities for reaching out beyond our parish walls. Please come be a part of this exciting and rewarding conference being offered in our own diocese. For more info please go to: http://www.edecr.org/magnetic-church.htm. Remember 5 or more from one church, registered by April 15, receives a $5 reduction in cost for each person. If you wish housing for the event, please contact Joanna Shreve (jrshreve@aol.com ) or by phone 650-941-6436 by May 1. Please reference Magnetic Church when you email her. We look forward to seeing you there.  
• Province VIII Stewardship and Evangelism Conference – Portland, OR – June 26-28. Please check our website for more details and the attached description of a children’s program that will be a part of this event. For more information and registration, please contact Joanna Shreve at: jrshreve@gmail.com 
• Online Spring course offerings from CALL (associated with CDSP) can be found in the attached PDF file.
• CLERGY CONFERENCE – April 21-23, 2008 at St. Francis, San Juan Bautista. More info to follow.
• Breaking Barriers Conference – Sometime in September/October 2008. Details to follow.
• 2008 Diocesan Convention – November 7-8 – Sherwood Hall in Salinas

Diocesan Office Meetings:

• Next Week:  Board of Trustees – Thursday the 17th in Seaside
   

God, open the ears of those who hear our stories of faith - that they might receive them as a source of hope for a better tomorrow.  Help each of us to honor one another’s stories for the unique gifts that they are - as a witness to our belief in you –  and may our stories inspire us to greater actions to your glory. In Jesus’ name we pray…Amen.