Dear God:
Thank you for loving me;
Teach me to love myself;
Guide me to love and serve others…Amen

Administrative items:

• Along the King’s Highway –The pre-convention issue of AKH will be a wrap with Episcopal Life has been mailed and you should have received it (or will shortly).
• 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
• 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. (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.
  • A copy of the revised Constitution and Canons has been sent to all clergy/delegates/alternates in each Convention package and has been posted on the DioECR web site at http://www.edecr.org/candc.htm. 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.
• My trip to the Episcopal Business Administrator’s Conference (EBAC) in NYC was very fruitful last week. A few highlights include a CPG online training course in Safeguarding God’s Children that will be rolled out next year. I will propose that ECR participates in this training program. I attended other workshops in new pension, health and life insurance options; church personnel issues; church treasurers’ workshops; how to read parochial report history to determine the health of a congregation; and an update on the changes at the Episcopal Church Center. Our diocesan treasurer, Ed Markham, was in attendance, too.
• I will be out of the office attending the Province VIII Executive Committee/Leadership Conference at the Mercy Center in Burlingame next week. Please address any questions to Jo Ann McClain or Susan Altig in my absence. Please keep the work of our province in your prayers.
• Just a reminder that if you have not performed your annual financial church audit per canons, please make arrangements to have it completed by the December 31st deadline.
• The El Camino Real Foundation has a new website with great information on planned giving, wills awareness, and links to the Episcopal Church Foundation. You can send questions or requests via e-mail, and one of the Foundation members will contact you with a reply. Check it out at: http://www.edecr.org/foundation/ 

Announcements:

• After more than two years without a full time priest St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Salinas is pleased to announce the calling of the Reverend James V. Ezell. Father Jim will arrive from Australia on Halloween and will con-celebrate with the Reverend Arnold Hedlund on November 4th. He officially assumes his duties as Rector on November 1st. Father Jim has worked the past fourteen years as a school chaplain in Brisbane and Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. The previous nine years he was the Chaplain at the Morgan School in Lenoir, North Carolina and before than the Rector at St. Luke’s Church in Asheville, North Carolina. He attended Alfred University where he received his B.A. in Philosophy and then attended seminary at Seabury-Western where he received his Masters in Divinity. The Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves will officially install Father Jim as the Rector on December 5th at 7:00 p.m. at St. Paul’s Church.
• October 11 is the big fundraiser for Santa Maria Urban Ministry. We have partnered with Barnes and Noble to raise funds to upgrade the playground. Simply shop at any time on Thursday at any Barnes and Noble in San Jose or Gilroy with a voucher (download here). There will be a Spanish story hour in Gilroy and Ballet Folklorico at the Stevens Creek store. Share vouchers with friends and colleagues! Let's work together to build a safe, age-appropriate playground for the ABC Playtime students.
• Canterbury Cathedral Dinner at St. Francis, October 28: Canterbury Cathedral's mission as the Mother Church of the Anglican communion and spiritual home of Anglicans everywhere is of particular interest as tensions have arisen within the Communion. The Very Reverend Robert Willis, 39th Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, will be at a dinner at St. Francis on Sunday night, October 28 at 6PM to talk about such things. All are welcome. The cost of the dinner is $15. Please call St. Francis for reservations and directions at 408-292-7090 (8:30am-12noon) or email at StFran[atecr]StFrancisEpiscopalChurch.org .
• COMMISSION ON SMALL CONGREGATIONS – become a member!! Here’s an opportunity to be in on the ground floor working on congregational development in the third episcopate of El Camino Real. The Commission on Small Congregations represents 60% of the congregations on the diocese. What would membership on the commission involve? The CSC meets about once a month, usually by conference call to keep travel time and gas costs at a minimum. CSC members “meet” in the comfort of their church, office, home. The CSC sponsors a Small Congregations Network conference twice a year, focusing on strategy, tools, and resources for growing God’s mission in small congregations. The CSC plans to offer grants and scholarships in the coming year. To express an interest in the commission or for more information, contact Diane Lovelace at DiLovelace[atecr]aol.com  or at 408/ 263-8945.
• Bishop Romero’s new email address: sylvestreromero[atecr]yahoo.com

Ministry items:

• There are the beginnings of planning for 2008 youth events/activities going on. I have recently heard of a mission trip that Bishop-Elect Mary will be organizing, and several people are talking about a mission trip to the gulf coast to Camp Coast Care next summer to assist in the rebuilding efforts after Katrina. More information to follow.
• Along those lines, the Diocese is looking for leaders with a passion for youth ministry who would like to become involved in future planning. As a diocese, we will be regrouping and putting a new plan of action together. After a recent conversation with Bishop Elect Mary, our initial thoughts are that our diocesan wide plan will include more support for regional/local youth groups/activities with a few very well planned diocesan youth events. We will be contacting several of you who have already expressed an interest, but want to extend an open invitation to anyone interested in working in this very important ministry. Please contact me - brian[atecr]edecr.org  - so I can put you on the list for future planning. We will be gathering later this year.
• 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. 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. Registration form here <archived>. The cost is $20.00 per person and includes lunch.

Diocesan Office Meetings:

• Next Week:  Corporation, Diocesan Leadership Team, and Convention Planning Team – Monday the 6th in Seaside; Standing Committee – Thursday the 11th in Seaside.
   

May God richly bless us in all areas of our lives – with every beat of our heart, every breath that we take,

every action that we do, and every word that we say…