Be thankful!

Administrative items:

• Diocesan staff time away: Jo Ann Mc Clain will be on vacation today through next week (11/16 – 11/25). She will be back in the office on Monday the 26th. Bishop Mary will be moving from Salinas to her new home near Monterey next week, and will not be in the office until the 27th. Brian Nordwick will be on vacation the week of the 26th followed by a CODE (Conference of Diocesan Executives) Board meeting - back in the office on Wednesday the 5th of December. Lastly, please make a note that the diocesan office will be closed for Thanksgiving holiday next Thursday and Friday, and closed the week between Christmas and New Years.
• Along the King’s Highway – No newsletter in November. The December issue is in the printing phase. 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 .
  • Youth Director, St. Paul’s Salinas
  • Chaplain, Santa Cruz County Jail
  • New Posting: All Saints’ Episcopal Church of Palo Alto is currently seeking an energetic, spirit-filled Youth Coordinator, to help us achieve our goal of enhancing our ministry and outreach to children and families in the downtown area, and neighboring communities. Duties include, coordinating all Youth Ministry activities, such as weekly Youth Group meetings, mission trips, and collaborative activities with the greater Youth community. This is an hourly “consultant” position, based on an average of 15 hours per week, 9 months per year. Hourly rate is based on experience. The Youth Coordinator will report to the Director of Children’s Education. Please email your resume, along with a letter describing, What I might bring to the position of Youth Coordinator of All Saints’(max. 500 words) to youthposition[atecr]asaints.org
• The text of the sermon from Bishop Leo Frade at Bishop Mary’s ordination can be found at: http://www.edecr.org/f/BT-FradeOrdinationSermon-20071110.pdf .
• Articles and a video of the ordination can be found at: http://www.mercurynewsphoto.com/blog/2007/11/11/episcopal-bishop-ordained/  and
  http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_7430789?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com&nclick_check=1
• A DVD of the ordination can be purchased for $15 from St. Francis. An order form is attached if you are interested.
• Bishop Mary will be interviewed on NPR radio next week for a “Talk of the Bay” segment. Details on the day and time of the broadcast to follow.
• Just a reminder that if you have not performed your annual financial church audit per canons (ECR canon 19 section 11), please make arrangements to have it completed by the December 31st deadline. Also, once your audit is completed, please send a copy to the diocesan officer per canon requirement. As a reminder, for visibility and transparency, the annual Diocesan audit is posted to the website in it’s entirely for everyone to have access to. I would encourage vestries and bishop’s committees to share their audit information with their congregations, too.
• 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/ .
• Treasurers/Vestries: Please don’t forget to pass a housing resolution for clergy on your payroll before December 31, 2007 for next year. You can find an example of this in the Manual for Business Methods in Church Affairs that can be downloaded at: http://episcopalchurch.org/finance_58218_ENG_HTM.htm?menupage=877
• Treasurers: It is time to make any adjustments up or down to your church’s fairshare payment to reflect actual income for year to date – in your November/December payments. Please notify the diocesan office as soon as you have those numbers available for budgeting/cash flow purposes. Also, you will need to make a final adjustment to your fairshare payments for 2007 in 2008 once you close your books.
• Parochial report booklets for 2007 vital and financial statistics have (or will shortly) been mailed to each congregation directly from the National Church Office. If you have not received it by the end of December, you can download it online in both English and Spanish at: http://episcopalchurch.org/research_62344_ENG_HTM.htm
• Robin Denney’s blogspot with info about her missionary work in Liberia can be found at: www.growinginliberia.blogspot.com . This site includes links to her convention address and video.

Announcements:

• VISION INTO ACTION: Small Congregations Conference – previously scheduled for December 1, 2007 at St. Paul’s, Salinas is being rescheduled for February 2008. Details on the time and place to follow. For more information, contact DiLovelace[atecr]aol.com
• Episcopal Church Women's FALL GENERAL MEETING -- Election of Officers to the diocesan ECW Board, United Thank Offering Ingathering, and Advent Baby Shower on Thursday, November 29th, with registration and coffee at 9:30 a.m. at St. Paul's Church, Salinas. Bring UTO donations from your congregation and a gift for a baby for the ECW outreach project. The baby gifts will be given to the Baby Pantry at San Pablo Mission in Salinas. Registration deadline: Nov. 21st. See attached registration form <archived>.
• CELEBRATION OF A NEW MINISTRY—Wednesday, December 5, 2007, at St. Paul’s, Salinas, 7 p.m. — Wardens, Vestry and Congregation cordially invite you to attend The Celebration of a New Ministry at which the Right Reverend Mary Gray-Reeves will institute The Reverend James V. Ezell as Rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Salinas. Reception following. Your prayers and presence are requested. RSVP (831) 424-7331 or to stpauls[atecr]razzolink.com . See attached invitation <archived>.

Ministry items:

• There will be an initial meeting of planning for 2008 youth events/activities led by Bishop Mary in early December. Many of you who have already contacted the diocesan office will be asked to participate. The Diocese is still looking for more leaders with a passion for youth ministry who would like to become involved in future planning, and joining the Diocesan Commission for Youth Ministry. Please contact me at - brian[atecr]edecr.org so I can put you on the list for future planning.
• Diocesan Youth Mission Trips for 2008: Next 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 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. Please begin discussing these opportunities with your youth and youth leaders.
• Youth Katrina Relief Summer Mission Trip: June 14-20, 2008: Open to all Junior High and High School Students. Spend a week working to provide better housing for our gulf coast neighbors with Lutheran Episcopal Services in Mississippi. There is a wide variety of jobs we might due gut a damaged home, work in the kitchen, dig a foundation, paint, clean the dorm, frame, install sheet-rock, remove debris from a home, or finish out a home. Everyone will have the opportunity to do meaningful work in restoring the beauty and dignity to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. For more information please print attached document and contact Katie Machemer at 408 867-3493.
   

Important Training / Dates to mark on your calendars:

• All ECR Clergy: Save the Date - December 4 ECCO sponsored Advent Quiet Day with Bishop Mary... It will be held at the St. Francis Retreat Center. More details to follow…
• Mark your calendars now for these important Deanery Visioning Meetings (9AM-3PM) in January. (Bishop Mary will be leading all three sessions).  These meetings are open for all members of El Camino Real. Please plan to attend one of the following:
  • Saturday, January 5 – Good Shepherd, Salinas
  • Saturday, January 12 – Trinity Cathedral, San Jose, followed by the Enthronement of Bishop Mary at 4PM
  • Saturday, January 19 – St. James’, Paso Robles
  • Details to follow…
• The Foundation Academy will be held at St. Mary’s in Pacific Grove on February 1-2, 2008. Bishop (elect) Mary Gray-Reeves will be the keynote speaker at Friday night’s banquet. More information to follow on the learning tracks of planned giving, capital campaigns, and annual giving.
• CLERGY CONFERENCE – April 21-23, 2008 at St. Francis, San Juan Bautista. More info to follow.
• MAGNETIC CHURCH CONFERENCE – May 16-17, 2008. This event is led by an Episcopalian, is fun, has some great practical ideas and will stimulate lots of thought about how to effectively be hospitable and welcoming to those not yet with us. It will be very accessible to all and a good way to begin our collective work of empowering our diocese for evangelism.
• 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:  No meetings scheduled
   

Dear God, during this time of year when we reflect upon everything that we are thankful for, we give you thanks for all the blessings that you have bestowed upon our Diocese. Thank you for blessing us in the election and consecration of our Bishop, our diocesan convention, and launching us on a new phase of our journey together as the Diocese of El Camino Real. Thank you for all that you have given us, thank you for all that you have taken away, and thank you most of all for being our loving God! In Jesus’ name…AMEN