Please be mindful and pray for the House of Bishops Meeting in Louisiana over the next several days…

Administrative items:

• Along the King’s Highway –The pre-convention issue of AKH will be a wrap with Episcopal Life, arriving in mailboxes the first week of October.
• Deployment/Position Postings – Detailed postings for jobs can be seen by clicking on the following link: http://www.edecr.org/jobs.htm .
  • Youth Director, St. Paul’s Salinas
  • 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.)
  • Registration opens Friday, October 26th at 11AM with opening Eucharist beginning at 1PM. The Business of Convention begins Friday promptly at 3PM. Saturday, October 27th registration reopens at 7:30 AM and Convention reconvenes at 8:30 AM.
  • 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.
  • A copy of the revised Constitution and Canons that you will receive in your Convention package has now been posted on the web site at http://www.edecr.org/candc.htm and will be sent to clergy and lay delegates next week. Narrative explanations of the changes are posted to the website. After receiving comments about the discussion draft posted in July, the Constitution and Canons Committee made a number of changes that are reflected in this new version and can be seen in a new "marked" copy also posted. Conversation continues with regard to some of the canons. Deanery presentations to explain and discuss the proposed changes are scheduled for the week of September 23.  You are invited to review the newly posted draft prior to the presentations. Following the presentations there are likely to be further revisions. If so, a revised draft will be distributed before Convention. If you have further questions, please contact Chris Creed (FrCreed@aol.com ) and/or Nancy Cohen (ncohen@law.stanford.edu ).
• 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 )
  • October 12 and 13 Holy Spirit, Campbell Specific time and registration deadline TBA.
• Bishop Elect Mary Gray-Reeves is attending the House of Bishops Meeting in New Orleans, and will be meeting with the clergy of ECR next Wednesday the 26th to share her experiences from the meeting. Please keep her and the Bishops in your prayers.
• Brian will be out of the office next week for the annual Episcopal Business Administrator’s Conference in NYC. Please contact Jo Ann or Susan during Brian’s absence.
• Please see news from the Resource Center, attached <archived>, and note their next open house is on October 4th at St. Thomas in Sunnyvale.
• Are you looking for a poster for All Saints Day? Eerdmanns Publishing has a wonderful FREE poster which you can order, just pay $.97 for postage. It is from their book More All Saints by Ruth Sanderson, however the poster can be used without the book. Order quickly to receive by All Saints Day. Poster Order form— http://www.eerdmans.com/pdf/orderform.pdf 

Announcements:

• 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 Rev. Keith Johnson – Rector from St. Andrew’s Ben Lomand – has been accepted into the PhD program at the University of Wales (UK) in Lampeter. The PhD will be in a combination of religion and politics. It is a research degree, which means he will be doing most of his work here stateside, but will have to visit Wales in the summer. Please join us in congratulating Keith and wishing him well in this new endeavor.
• Bishop Romero’s new email address: sylvestreromero[atecr]yahoo.com

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 .
• 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:

• There will be a Faith Formation Event on Oct. 13 at St. James Paso Robes. Registration will begin at 9:15am, opening prayer at 9:45am; seminars begin at 10:00am. Eucharistic Ministry, Eucharistic Visitor, Safeguarding Children and Praying in Color will be the topics for the day. Please contact Susan Altig (susan[atecr]edecr.org ) at the diocesan office to register for the event. The cost is $20.00 per person and includes lunch. Descriptions of each seminar topic will be forthcoming.
• 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:  Clergy Meeting with Bishop Elect Mary on Wednesday the 26th in Seaside @ 10:00am.
   

Dear Lord God, I ask You to bless my friends, relatives and those that I care deeply for, who are reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask You to minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence through your grace. Where there is need, I ask you to fulfill their needs. Bless their homes, families, finances, their goings and their comings.

In Jesus' precious name. Amen.