CORE DISMANTLING RACISM TRAINING

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October 14-15 at St. John’s, Grand Haven

The Dismantling Racism Task Force will sponsor an opportunity for members of the Episcopal Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan to participate in a two-day intensive offered by CORE (Congregations Organizing for Racial Equity).

The training, titled “Understanding Racism” covers the many facets of racism, from its origins to its outward manifestations. It explores scripture, definitions of racism, and common language, and encourages participants to look inward at their biases, as well as outward at the institutions and locations in which they live, work, and worship. This particular offering will be contextualized for an Episcopal audience.

For Western Michigan participants – this training satisfies the requirements under Level 1 and Level 2 of the diocesan dismantling racism policy.

Please read below for details about cost and registration, including an option for overnight accommodations.

We are anticipating an additional training opportunity to be held in a northern location sometime next Spring.

Photo: Eastern and Western Michigan participants during last Spring’s CORE Training in Grand Rapids.

DATE & LOCATION

October 14-15, 2022

St. John’s Episcopal Church
524 Washington Ave
Grand Haven, MI 49417

The program takes place from 7-9pm on Friday, the 14th and from 9-4pm on Saturday, the 15th.

REGISTRATION

The cost to participate has been subsidized to $20/person for the two-day training, which includes lunch provided on Saturday.

(This event is made possible by the Dismantling Racism Task Force. The typical cost to attend a CORE training is $200 per person.)

The training is open to all in the Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan. Space is limited to 40 participants. We will maintain a waiting list to fill extra spots, should they open.

We have a small block of rooms available at the Best Western Beacon Inn, for participants at a reduced rate of $180/night. To reserve, please call 616-842-4720 and give them the group name, “EDWM-Core.” The deadline to reserve rooms under this block is September 14th.

The deadline to submit your registration for the training is October 10th.

REGISTER

CONTEMPLATIVE FIBER ARTS RETREAT

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September 23-25 at Camp Chickagami

Fiber artists of all kinds and skill levels are invited to join us at Camp Chickagami to retreat and create, enjoying the beginning of autumn in Northern Michigan!

Join us for several days in community focused on building a closer relationship with God and other fiber artists. The schedule for our retreat is flexible – with time spent both alone and in group, in crafting and exploring our retreat theme: “Exploring Mystery – In Our Fiber Arts and In Our Lives.” As we craft together, we will reflect on the role that our fiber arts have in our lives and in our spiritual practices, especially when it is unexpected.

Our retreat is led by the Rev. Radha Kaminski, Rector of the Central Michigan Episcopal Covenant, a collaboration between St. Andrew’s, Big Rapids and St. Mary’s, Cadillac. Radha is a knitter, sewist, and aspiring spinner. She learned to sew as a child in her grandmother’s sewing classes and taught herself knitting after college. Knitting is a significant part of her spiritual practice, whether through its meditative rhythm or by crafting saintly gnomes.

Artists are asked to bring their own fiber arts materials and tools. There will be extension cords and some lamps available in the main hall we will be meeting and crafting in, but please bring any specific ones you will need. Projects and equipment may be left in the main hall during the retreat.

Learn more about adult retreats at Camp Chick, including a recommended packing list, FAQs and more, on their website.

WHAT ARE FIBER ARTS?

Fiber art — practices and creations as old as humanity — is art that employs the use of fiber materials, such as yarn, wool, or fabric. Creations of fiber arts can serve functional roles while also being sources of storytelling, of spirituality, and of deep complexity. Examples include knitting, crochet, weaving, quilting, needlework, spinning, braiding, lacing, and much more.

GENERAL SCHEDULE

Friday, September 23 – Check-in anytime between 3:00 and 6:00pm. We will gather at 6 pm for dinner, followed by community reflection, conversation, and fiberwork. An optional service of Compline will end our day.

Saturday, September 24 – The day includes gatherings for community reflection, conversation, fiberwork, free time, community meals, optional communion bread baking, and prayer services.

Sunday, September 25 – After breakfast we will gather for our closing service of Holy Communion with our final time of community reflection, conversation, and fiberwork. You are free to depart anytime after the service, but are welcome to remain for lunch and relax for a while.

ABOUT CAMP CHICK

Camp Chickagami, incorporated in 1929, is the ACA accredited camp and retreat center owned and operated by the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Michigan. Located in Presque Isle, Michigan with frontage on Lake Esau and access to Lake Huron, Camp Chick offers individual and group rental stays and programming for children, youth, and adults throughout the summer season. Learn more at campchickagami.org.

REGISTRATION

This retreat’s pricing is a tiered pricing structure, beginning at $300, which includes lodging, all meals, and some materials.

Lodging will be assigned by Camp Chickagami with assignments ranging from cottages to bunk-cabins. If you have requests for cabin-mates please let us know during the registration process.

Partners/families are welcome to attend, whether or not they are also fiber artists or crafters. Children are welcome; though please note that there will be no childcare or children’s programming provided during the retreat and all children must be supervised by their responsible adults.

REGISTER

DAUGHTERS OF THE KING ASSEMBLY 2022

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September 24th at Holy Spirit, Belmont

All DOK members of Eastern and Western Michigan are invited to join us for the first gathering of the Daughters of the King

in two years! It is a time to gather, pray and give thanks for God’s goodness as we explore our 2022 theme, Partners in Ministry.

Plan to attend to help establish new goals, form relationships across dioceses, and to spend time with our new Bishop Provisional, The Rt.Rev. Prince Singh.

Bishop Singh will offer the main address for the Assembly.

Questions about the event?
Please contact Western Michigan DOK President, Jeanine Totzke, at jtotzke@berriencounty.org or at 269-921-1127.

Questions about your registration?
Please contact Lois Weed at lweed11@comcast.net or 269-535-0050.

REGISTRATION

The cost to attend is $10, which includes lunch. Please register before September 21st.

We have sent this invitation to all DOK members in Eastern and Western Michigan for whom we have email addresses listed. Please pass this invitation along to your fellow members to ensure all who ought to receive this, does. This message was also sent to parish leadership, including clergy, senior wardens, and listed parish admins.

REGISTER

PARENTING RETREAT

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Read more

PREACHING FOR SPIRITUAL FORMATION

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September 24th, 10-3pm at St. John’s, Midland

During her preparation for her D.Min. in Preaching, the Rev. Canon Dr. Tracie Little, Canon to the Ordinary serving Eastern Michigan, developed the Barrier-Pivot-Passage model for preaching for spiritual formation within a congregation that had identified a restlessness and readiness to deepen their spirituality. The preaching project that unfolded at St. Jude’s, Fenton during that time revealed that this model can help listeners connect the pattern of Barrier-Pivot-Passage in scripture to their own spiritual lives, having an impact on their participation with God’s ongoing work in the world.

This workshop will help participants craft sermons that move congregations focused on cognitive learning from a head experience into an engagement with the heart, leading to a growing awareness of their own response to God.

This event, which will take place on Saturday, September 24th from 10-3pm, is offered for all clergy and licensed lay preachers serving in Eastern and Western Michigan.

Please contact the Rev. Canon Dr. Tracie Little with any questions – tlittle@eastmich.org.

LOCATION

St. John’s Episcopal Church
405 N. Saginaw Road
Midland, MI

sjec-midland.org

REGISTRATION

This event is open to all clergy and licensed lay preachers in Eastern and Western Michigan. The cost to participate has been subsidized to $10 per person, which includes lunch.

Please register by September 10th.

REGISTER

 

Statement on Lambeth from Bishop Singh

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Dear Friends,

Earlier this week, while reviewing preliminary documents and procedures for the upcoming Lambeth Conference of the Anglican Communion, colleagues discovered the inclusion of a decades-old statement; one discriminatory to our beloved LGBTQ+ siblings. Attending bishops are asked to either affirm the statement or indicate that they “need more time for discernment.” There is no option for “no,” which would be the earth-shaking response from the vast majority of bishops from The Episcopal Church and others. You may remember that I had already chosen not to attend due to earlier discriminatory actions against our LGBTQ+ bishops and spouses.

While we wait for a broader statement from our Presiding Bishop’s office, let me make a brief observation from my perch as Bishop Provisional of Eastern and Western Michigan.

Canterbury has stated to address “the call” as it prepares to meet for its historic Lambeth conference. It identifies a “gap between rhetoric and reality” and names, particularly, “historical exploitation, deepening poverty, and prejudice” that “continues to threaten human dignity.” I find it ironic that Canterbury then scapegoats one of the critical vulnerabilities within the Anglican Communion, the prejudice against LGBTQ+ Anglicans, as the area that needs “deeper work.” The gaps between rhetoric and reality could not be more exacerbated than Canterbury’s handling of this “divide” between rhetoric and LGBTQ+ reality.

The Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral asks us to value local expressions of Episcopal Authority, such as those in North America and elsewhere in the Anglican Communion. These dioceses give us ample examples of how to bridge the gap between rhetoric and practice as far as LGBTQ+ saints are concerned. To treat this giftedness as anything other than the Anglican Communion’s opportunity to learn from parts of the communion and enhance everyday life is to play divide and rule politics. This divisive Lambeth Conference move preserves a passive peace and the victims of prejudice will bear the burden of a body that refuses to do its deepening soul work. Canterbury’s act of disinviting spouses of LGBTQ+ Bishops reinforces this gap between rhetoric and the practice of holiness as embodied in the marriage of LGBTQ+ saints!

To place the life and witness of our LGBTQ+ saints in contrast to marriage between a man and a woman is a colonial ploy by an empire that is perhaps holding on to the last vestiges of its arbiter role. It also could be another attempt of Canterbury’s at clinging to relevance using an instrument of unity–Lambeth–to embrace legislative action while also appearing not to do so.

Let me be clear to all who need to hear as a bishop witnessing the redemptive power of the gospel of Jesus Christ in this branch of the Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan have addressed the so-called gap in practicing radical hospitality by valuing the dignity of LGBTQ+ saints! In so doing, we have embraced the doctrine, discipline, and worship of Christ as this church has received them. We have willingly helped anyone who wants to do more profound work in this area of our faith in action. In response to Christ’s call to love one another as he has loved us, we welcome all and value their dignity without reservation!

Yours in Christ,

The Rt. Rev. Prince Singh
Bishop Provisional
The Episcopal Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan

 

Endorsed by the Standing Committees of Eastern and Western Michigan:

Barb Ilkka

President
St. John’s, Saginaw

The Rev. Brian Chace
Retired, Northern Region

The Rev. Don Davidson
St. Paul’s, Flint

Jelecia Geraghty
St. Paul’s, Flint

Gary Grinn
St. Paul’s, Gladwin

The Rev. Anna Leigh Kubbe

Holy Family, Blue Water

The Rev. Dr. Randall Warren

President
St. Luke’s, Kalamazoo

Martha Bartlett
St. James, Pentwater

The Rev. Diane Pike
Retired, Southern Region

Carole Redwine
St. Philip’s, Grand Rapids

The Rev. Anne Schnaare
Grace, Grand Rapids

Fred Skidmore
St. Andrew’s, Grand Rapids

The Rev. Eileen Stoffan

St. Paul’s, Muskegon

TRAINING FOR LAY PREACHERS

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Courses prepare participants for licensure

Dear Friends in Christ,

Eastern and Western Michigan will be offering training for lay preachers seeking to get licensed in our dioceses. The courses take place alongside our Academy for Vocational Leadership. If you feel called to serve as a lay preacher, please speak with your priest (or senior warden if your congregation is without a priest) and, with their approval, complete the application by the August 15th deadline.

To complete the classwork in order to receive a license, the lay preacher is required to take one year of Bible instruction and one year of Homiletics formation. These may be completed by participating in both classes in one academic year or by taking Bible this year and Homiletics next year.

This formation expectation is a change for new preaching licenses in Western Michigan. Those previously licensed in Western Michigan will be expected to have completed some form of continuing education (on Scripture or homiletics) before their license will be renewed in December. You are encouraged to consider participating in the Academy programs as a means of completing this requirement and further equipping oneself for this ministry.

The 2022-23 school year will be a mixture of in-person at the St. Francis Retreat Center in DeWitt and online via Zoom. The cost to participate in both classes is $1,000 (or Bible only for $720). During the weekend, participants interact with Academy students at meals, worship, and break times. Each Saturday follows the same pattern, with the Bible course taught from 9:30-3:30pm and Homiletics taught from 7-9pm. Please read below for dates.

If you have any questions, please contact me at tlittle@eastmich.org or by phone at 810-300-9177.

Blessings,

The Rev. Canon Dr. Tracie Little
Coordinator, The Academy for Vocational Leadership
Canon to the Ordinary, The Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Michigan

Download Application

ABOUT THE ACADEMY

The Academy for Vocational Leadership is a bi-diocesan program of formation, including courses for laity (like the preaching series), and a three-year program of preparation for the diaconate or priesthood. Courses are taught by seminary faculty from the Iona Collaborative, a program of the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, TX, with discussions and coursework directed by local faculty.

Learn more about the Academy on our websites – Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan.

Photo: A previous graduating class of the Academy – Kelly Scheu (Diocese of Michigan), the Rev. Nancy Mayhew (St. Alban’s, Bay City), the Rev. Tom Manney (St. Paul’s, Bad Axe and St. John’s, Dryden), and the Rev. Wendy Brown (St. John’s, Charlotte).

THE 2022-23 DATES

September 10, 2022 at The St. Francis Retreat Center in Dewitt
October 15, 2022 at The St. Francis Retreat Center in Dewitt
November 12 via Zoom
December 10, 2022 at The St. Francis Retreat Center in Dewitt
January 21, 2023 via Zoom
February 18, 2023 via Zoom
March 25, 2023 at The St. Francis Retreat Center in Dewitt
April 15, 2023 at The St. Francis Retreat Center in Dewitt
May 13, 2023 at The St. Francis Retreat Center in Dewitt
June 10, 2023 at The St. Francis Retreat Center in Dewitt

Download Application

Litany of Lament and Healing After Roe vs. Wade is Overturned

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Dear Saints,

I write in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, a step back in human rights, privacy, and safety for so many of our beloved siblings, neighbors, and friends. We do not forget that this decision threatens not only access to life-saving healthcare but the rights of so many others that have been so hard-fought — same-sex marriage, access to contraception, and other protections.

When the decision was leaked earlier this year, I wrote, “As Episcopalians, we commit every day to respect the dignity of every human being – one’s dignity requires the existence of choice over control, freedom over force, and abundant love over fear.” This does not change with today’s official decision.

On this day, we grieve and pray that the redeeming love of Christ who knows all that we are and all that we were created to achieve.

I commend to you this Service of Lament and Healing written by six leaders in our Church. They offer this liturgy as a gift to our community, adaptable to local customs and contexts.

Please join me and Canon Forsyth on Facebook Live tomorrow morning at 10am EDT to pray the litany together with our diocesan communities. Access our scheduled broadcast on Eastern Michigan’s Facebook Page or Western Michigan’s Facebook Page.

I invite you to pray with me one of the collects included in the litany,

We pray for those who are afraid, lost, and in the midst of turmoil of spirit and mind. We pray for those who lament the loss of bodily autonomy, for those who fear the loss of other civil rights, and for those who fear the unknown of the world ahead. We pray especially for all who will be disproportionately affected by a lack of reproductive rights, especially people who are Black, Indigenous, Asian, Brown, People of Color, trans and nonbinary. We pray for all who live in poverty, and for those who live in rural areas, who will also be disproportionately affected. May we be resolved in our commitment to hope, knowing that to hope in God is to never hope in vain.

Yours in Christ, 

The Rt. Rev. Prince Singh
Bishop Provisional
The Episcopal Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan

Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan

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