Dear God,
Take us where you want us to go,
Help us meet who you want us to meet,
Tell us what you want us to say,
And keep us out of your way. Amen

(revised Fr. Michal Judge)

Administrative items:

• Along the King’s Highway – The August edition is posted to the website. The pre-convention issue of AKH will be a wrap with Episcopal Life, arriving in mailboxes the first week of October. The official deadline for articles is August 31.
• Our Bishop Elect - The Ven. Mary Gray-Reeves’ first day in the office in Seaside will be Tuesday, September 4th. Bishop Romero’s last day in the office in Seaside will be Tuesday, September 18th. Please pray for both of them and their families during this time of moving and transition in their lives.
• Deployment/Position Postings – Detailed postings for jobs can be seen by clicking on the following link: http://www.edecr.org/jobs.htm .
  • Rector, St. James the Apostle in Paso Robles
  • Director of Music, St. Barnabas’, Arroyo Grande
  • Youth Director, St. Paul’s Salinas
  • Director of Music, St. Barnabas’, Arroyo Grande
  • Director of Christian Education, All Saint’s Palo Alto
  • Adult Choir Director, St. Jude’s Cupertino
  • Religious Education Instructor, St. Luke’s, Los Gatos
• CONVENTION INFORMATION - Convention will take place Friday, October 26th and Saturday, October 27th!
  • Please mark your calendars and save the dates for our upcoming Diocesan Convention which will be held at Sherwood Hall in Salinas on Friday, October 26th and Saturday, October 27th. We will have a full agenda including Eucharist, diocesan elections, Constitution and Canon Changes to facilitate our transition to the collaborative model of governance, fellowship, celebrations and much MORE! There will be a Friday night banquet and display tables. Additional details will be mailed to all Delegates, Alternates and Clergy in September and will be posted on the Diocesan website as they become available. (Information with hotel information for those needing lodging Friday night is here.)
  • From Linda Taylor, Chair of Nominating Committee: At our October meeting of Convention, we will elect those who will serve our diocese in this important time of transition. In order to prepare for the election, nominations for office need to be received in the diocesan office by August 31, and applications for those offices (which include a brief biography) need to be received by September 7. After nominations and applications have been received, candidates will be reviewed for eligibility to serve. Your Nominating Committee has been hard at work for several months, identifying and recruiting potential candidates for office, but we need your help to complete the slate. Posted to the website are three documents:
    1) A description of all the elected and appointed diocesan offices, which includes information about function, term of office, needed gifts and skills, as well as the number of people who need to be elected/appointed this October.
    2) A briefer listing of the offices for which people need to be elected/appointed in October
    3) An application form
    
    Please review these materials and prayerfully consider if you or someone you know is being called to these ministries of service in our diocese. Please submit names and applications to Susan Altig at susan[atecr]edecr.org . If you have questions, please contact Susan Altig at 831-394-4465 or deanery members of the Nominating Committee: Mary Blessing, David Breuer, Charles Greenleaf, Bill Morley, Barbara Rice, and Barry Turner.
     
  • Note that the due date for submission of resolutions and proposed changes to the Constitution & Canons for consideration at this Convention is Monday, August 27, 2007. See memo here for details.
     

    DISPLAY TABLES AT DIOCESAN CONVENTION: If you wish to reserve a display table at the October Convention, please contact Dorothy Duckett at 408-293-2046, or email dorothyduckett@aol.com

     

  • To prepare for Convention, in September each deanery will be host to a combined presentation of the 2008 Diocesan Budget and review session of the currently proposed Constitution and Canon changes ((drafts of which can be found on the Diocesan website at http://www.edecr.org/candc.htm ).  Presenting the proposed 2008 Diocesan Budget (Rev. David Breuer, Ms. Diane Lovelace) and discussing the changes to the Constitution and Canons (Rev. Chris Creed, Chancellor Nancy Cohen)
    • SANTA CLARA VALLEY DEANERY -- Tuesday, Sept. 25, location TBD. Sign-in at 6:00 p.m., meeting 6:30 - 9:30 p.m.
    • MONTEREY DEANERY -- Saturday, Sept. 29, Epiphany Church, Marina at 10:00 a.m.
    • SAN LUIS OBISPO DEANERY – Saturday, Sept. 29, St. Luke’s Atascadero at 4 p.m.
       
• Congregational Development Grant – Roanridge Trust – applications for the training of “town and country clergy and rural Christian workers of PECUSA” (now known as The Episcopal Church). Please note the September 1st deadline for application. For more information and a complete application, visit http://www.episcopalchurch.org/smallchurch_51593_ENG_HTM.htm?menupage=51387 or contact Sarah Johnson at sjohnson[atecr]episcopalchurch.org .
• Urgent Message to all congregations from the Commission on Ministry: The Commission on Ministry (COM) spent last year revising ECR's ordination process and part of the changes involves congregations. In the past, when a parish or mission had a member considering ordination, the congregation formed a Discernment Committee to assist that member. Now that task has been transferred to Deaneries. We have asked that each congregation name 2 or more members to be trained to serve on a Deanery Discernment Committee. The committees trained last year are currently functioning but we have a back log of individuals waiting to be assigned. That is good news! Please join us in the work of discernment by letting Susan Altig know you are interested in one of the trainings. (831-394-4465 or susan@edecr.org )
  • Sept. 7 (1-8PM) & Sept 8 (9 AM-4PM) St. Stephen's, San Luis Obispo. Registration deadline 8/31
  • October 12 and 13 Holy Spirit, Campbell Specific time and registration deadline TBA.
     

Announcements:

• Appreciation Party for Bishop Sylvestre Romero will be held at the following location/time:
  • Saturday, September 8, 4PM at St. Timothy's in Mountain View.
  • From The Rev. Wendy Howe – Bishop Transition Committee: We are gathering an appreciation “purse” for Bishop Romero. Donations may be sent to the Diocesan office (attention Jo Ann) with a memo “For Bishop’s Gift.” Please give generously for this faithful servant who has done so much for our Diocese!
• Saint Luke's Los Gatos will host the Mesgana Dancers, an Ethiopian dance troupe made up of girls ages 7 to 12, on September 8th. The troupe will visit the Bay area in September as part of their 2007 US performance tour. The group is a project of the Children of Ethiopia Education Fund (COEEF), a nonprofit organization promoting education for girls in that East African nation. The work being done by COEEF addresses the Millennium Development Goals of achieving universal primary education and promoting gender equality. The Vestry and Clergy have agreed that our parish should support the Mesgana Dancers’ visit. We’re planning several fun activities for them on Saturday, September 8, including: A TRAIN TRIP THROUGH THE REDWOODS ON ROARING CAMP RAILROAD, A SATURDAY NIGHT POTLUCK HOSTED BY THE DE SANTIS FAMILY, and the DANCE PERFORMANCES. Please see flyer here <archived> for more information.
• Bluegrass Concert & Barbecue Returns to Seaside Aug. 25: The Fog Valley Drifters headline the Third Annual Bluegrass Barbecue Bonanza August 25 in Seaside, beginning with a Southern barbecue at 6 p.m. at St. Matthias’. For tickets call Janet Eswein, 831-372-7967 or the Rev. Susan Miller, 831-624-3375.
• WOMEN’S OVERNIGHT RETREAT in SANTA CRUZ: SEPTMEBER 27-28, 2007. All women of the diocese are invited to the annual Mary Lou Thompson Retreat which will be held this year at Villa Maria Del Mar, in Santa Cruz. The focus will be on recognizing God’s presence in creation, in sacred writings, in ourselves, and in each other. There will be time for walking on the beach, reflecting on Scripture, meditating or practicing Centering Prayer, spending time with old friends and new ones, and sharing the ways in which we recognize God’s presence in our daily lives. The Retreat Leader will be The Rev. Karin White, who is the Priest at St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church in Milpitas. For information and reservations contact Diane Lovelace at DiLovelace@aol.com  or 408/ 263-8945 Arrival will be 3:00 on Thursday, Sept 27, with departure after lunch on Friday. See ATTACHED FLYER to register.
• The Diocese has a Savin model 2522 copy machine available for a congregation that has a need for it. The machine comes as is. Whoever receives it would be responsible for moving the machine from Seaside, and for all maintenance and costs involved – including procuring and paying for a maintenance contract. If you are interested, call the diocesan office at 394-4465 by next Friday the 31st of August for more information.

Ministry items:

• Youth Ministry –
  • Big Sur Camping Trip: Please note the dates for the St. Lucia Big Sur Youth Camp are Friday, October 5 – Sunday, October 7. If you are interested in attending this event, please contact the diocesan office at 831-394-4465 or susan[atecr]edecr.org .
• Attention Young Adults…"Camino: A Sacred Journey" is set for September 21-23 at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, California. Through provocative workshops, creative worship and an interactive urban pilgrimage focused on global peace and justice, participants of Camino will partake in an urban pilgrimage, exploring the cities many contrasts, paradoxes, eccentricities and challenges while discovering sites where the values of the Millennium Development Goals, Baptismal Covenant and Franciscan Spirituality are being practiced. Camino builds upon the work and consensus of the Young Adult Ministry Network consultations of the last three years to provide an opportunity for young adults (ages 18-30), and those designated by their parishes and dioceses as young adult ministers, to come together in community and discuss the place of young adults in the church. Cost for the three-day event is $340/Single; $195/Double; and $130/Commuter. The fees include all program fees, housing and most meals. To register visit … https://www.conference.com/eventmanager/OnlineRegistration.asp?EventCode=ROY . For further information, contact the Rev. Douglas Fenton, staff officer, Young Adult and Higher Education Ministries for the Episcopal Church, at 800-334-7626 ext 6323 or e-mail dfenton[atecr]episcopalchurch.org .
• St. Thomas Safe Haven Transfer Center: St. Thomas in Sunnyvale, in partnership with the Children’s Rights Council, will be opening a Safe Haven Transfer Center October 12, 2007. The center will be operating every other Friday and Sunday evening from 7:00-8:00PM. All research indicates that children generally do better in all areas of life if they have a close and continuing relationship with two caring and supportive parents. St. Thomas Safe Haven Transfer Center will allow children to stay close to both parents during the stressful time of family breakup. The center will assist the children of never married, separated and divorced parents by offering a safe and monitored place for children to be exchanged between the parents. There will be no charge to either parent for the use of the center. Centers like this one cut down the opportunity for family violence because they provide a monitored exchange. St. Thomas will be working with the Santa Clara County Family Court system. Training for the volunteer monitors will be held at St. Thomas August 17th and 18th with commissioning of the monitors during the August 19th Sunday service at 10:30. If you are interested in participating as a monitor in this ministry to children and parents, and are willing to commit to a minimum of one hour a month, please contact Pam Storrer at pam_storrer[atecr]yahoo.com  or 408-732-3002.
• Vocare International Conference 2008 will be held in the Diocese of Texas in May of 2008. Currently May 23-25 is reserved and the team is working on getting May 22 as well, to be used as a traveling day. For airport information please visit the VIC page on our website www.vocaretx.com .

Important Training / Dates to mark on your calendars:

• Let the Milk and Honey Flow: Our Stewardship of Abundance – Plan to attend a stewardship conference put on jointly by the Diocese of El Camino Real and The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America at St. Stephen’s Church in Gilroy on Saturday, September 15th – 9am to 3pm. The presentation will be led by Bob Sitze, Director for Hunger Education for the ELCA. Lunch is provided and the cost is $10 per person of a maximum of $40 per congregation in advance ($13 at the door). For more information and registration form, please see the attached flyer <archived> – or call the diocesan office at 831-394-4465.
• Basic Anti-Racism training takes place September 28-29 at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Yakima, Washington, hosted by the Diocese of Spokane. A second segment September 30 – October 1 is being offered to provide training for potential trainers. For information contact Darcy James at 208-983-9334 or email djames[atecr]camasnet.com 

Diocesan Office Meetings:

• Next Week:  Risk Management on Monday the 27th; Diocesan Leadership Team on Tuesday the 28th; CERT on Thursday the 30th. All meetings in Seaside.
   

As a new school year has begun (or will begin) for many of our youth and teachers,
please keep them in your thoughts and prayers for a successful school year…
God we thank you for the opportunity to have a love for learning and teaching.
Bless this school year – students and teachers – to be guided and directed by you. In Jesus’ name we pray….AMEN