Blog Archives - Page 5 of 20 - The Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan

BUILDING BRIDGES FEEDBACK SESSIONS

January 16, 2024/in Blog, Event Details, News/by Michelle Ruiz

Opportunities to Review and Provide Input on Proposals

The following invitation to further public conversation and feedback was sent to the dioceses in early December. The documents for review and feedback during these sessions are now available and posted to the diocesan websites (see links below). Please register to add your voice to this important process and share broadly with your congregation.

—

It’s been a busy and complex many years in the Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan. Since Eastern Michigan first issued the invitation to discernment in 2018 and Western Michigan responded with “yes!” in 2019, together we’ve navigated a pandemic, two cases of bishop discipline, and a rapidly changing church. These years and moments have been spirit-filled and not always easy nor perfectly lived, but we’ve navigated them well with deep care for one another, the communities we tend, and for the future of our beloved church.

With a March Special Convention on the horizon, we are in the last few months of our discernment process as partnering dioceses and we need YOUR help!!

At our recent diocesan convention, our Building Bridges Steering Committee offered an extended report about their work over the last several years: what they’ve done, what they’ve heard, what they’ve learned, and – based on those things – what this all tells us about opportunities present for us as Episcopalians in this place. Their report, titled “Better Together” articulates the “why” of their recommendation to move forward seeking “juncture” – the creation of a new diocese out of our combined body.

Click here to access the 2023 Building Bridges Report to Convention.
Click here to access the new Frequently Asked Questions, created from input from delegates.

As articulated in the report, the Building Bridges team is hard at work, gathering leaders and drafting documents that are required for the Agreement of Union – the set of materials which will be submitted to the Special Joint Convention on March 16th in the vote for juncture. Should our joint convention act for juncture, the Agreement of Union would be submitted to the General Convention of The Episcopal Church for affirmation. The Agreement of Union includes:

The Draft Constitution and Canons for the new diocese (The canons would then be presented for adoption – with amendment possible – at the first convention of the new diocese in October.)
Summary of the financial resources and means of funding the mission and ministries of the new diocese
Broad timeline and basic plan for the election of the first bishop diocesan of the proposed new diocese
Name of the new diocese

We’ve been working on these drafts to present in full to the pre-convention meetings and Special Convention of the dioceses, however before we finalize them, we need your input and feedback on several areas of recommendation: apportionment calculations, regions/collaboratives, the make up of diocesan councils and standing committees, etc. During these upcoming Feedback Sessions, our committee will walk participants through these recommendations, identifying what the current canons of each our dioceses say, what the committee recommends for a new diocese and why. Your input will directly influence the final, content of the Agreement of Union as it will be submitted to the Special Joint Convention and this critical step in developing our canons and structures.

Your input can also help us identify what we may be yet missing, additional areas of concern, and more. While the canons can be adapted and amended up until their formal adoption at the first convention in October (and in all conventions that follow), we want them as complete as possible when we vote on juncture in March. We aren’t seeking perfection, but have worked hard to develop a good foundation on which a new diocese can begin, get a healthy start, and evolve over time.

NEW: Those draft proposals are now available for review ahead of your registered feedback session.

Constitution and Canons Recommendations Stewardship of Resources Recommendations

These documents are also available on the Building Bridges pages of the diocesan websites. Visit Eastern Michigan or Western Michigan.

We need your voice on this – yes, yours – to present the best of our collective wisdom, expertise, and experience. Please join us for one of five upcoming online and in-person Feedback Sessions (dates and RSVP links below). Your participation is essential to this process! Please share this invitation widely with your congregation.

Questions about this event? Please contact Katie Forsyth, Canon for Evangelism and Networking, at kforsyth@eastmich.org or kforsyth@edwm.org.

DATES & RSVP

Tuesday, January 16 from 1-3pm on Zoom (Clergy) – All Clergy Call (No RSVP Required)
Saturday, January 20 from 2-4pm at St. David’s, Lansing* (Lay and Clergy)
Sunday, January 21 from 1-3pm on Zoom (Lay and Clergy)
Thursday, January 25 from 6-8pm on Zoom (Lay and Clergy)
Saturday, January 27 from 2-4pm at St. Francis, Grayling* (Lay and Clergy)

*In the event of dangerous weather, our in-person gatherings will transition to Zoom and participants will be notified.

RSVP

Ausable Inclusion Center Work Day – The Great Indoors

January 10, 2024/in Blog, Event Details, News/by Michelle Ruiz

Saturday, March 2nd from 9-5pm

Calling all weekend warriors, DIY divas, and interior decorating legends! Join us at the site of the soon-to-be AuSable Inclusion Center for a day of renovation, repainting, and redecorating to spruce up our interior space to serve our mission in the community.

The AuSable Inclusion Center is a New Episcopal Community in the Diocese of Eastern Michigan seeking to officially launch in June 2024. It will provide programming for rural LGBTQ+ people and those marginalized by their economic status, organized around four pillars: social/emotional support, material support, spiritual support, and education/advocacy through both online and in-person programming. They also envision resourcing parishes in the dioceses seeking to deepen their own invitation to this population through education, advocacy, and potential collaborations. A more detailed report on the Center and its mission is included in the 2023 Convention Booklet, on page 92.

There are projects for a wide range of gifts and talents, but volunteers with a gift for woodworking and painting would be especially helpful for accomplishing our vision for the space.

Supplies, snacks, lunch, and a killer playlist will be provided. We’ll be working from 9-5pm, come for the whole day or as long as you can!

Questions about this event? Please contact ministry developer, the Rev. Beckett Leclaire, at bleclaire@eastmich.org or bleclaire@edwm.org.

Unable to contribute labor but would like to support the new Ausable Ministry Center in other ways? Please check out our building wishlist and library wishlist. Financial donations are welcome also! Please write checks out to “The Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Michigan,” marked for “The Ausable Inclusion Center” and mail to the Diocese of Eastern Michigan, 124 N. Fayette St., Saginaw, MI 48602.

LOCATION

The AuSable Inclusion Center
Signage remains for the former St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church
789 Ryno Rd.
Mio, MI 48647

RSVP

Please RSVP by February 24th so that we can plan for food and projects.

There is no cost to attend; we’re grateful for your contribution to the planting of this new ministry!

RSVP

Preaching Lent and Holy Week

January 5, 2024/in Blog, Event Details, News/by Michelle Ruiz

Continuing Education for Clergy and Lay Preachers

Join with other preachers across the diocese to dig into the rich texts of Holy Week and Easter, together considering our ministry of proclamation in the liturgy.

Our bi-diocesan office of Adult Formation will offer a one-day continuing education workshop geared toward already-licensed lay preachers and clergy. We will consider themes of the seasons and begin crafting possible outlines for sermons, together preparing to proclaim the word this season. Our facilitator will be the Rev. Tracie Little, D. Min., Canon for Adult Formation and the Southern Collaborative.

This workshop meets the requirements for already-licensed lay preachers’ expectations for continuing education. Learn more about licensing – Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan.

Questions about this event? Please contact the Rev. Canon Tracie Little, D. Min, Canon for the Southern Region and Adult Formation at tlittle@eastmich.org or tlittle@edwm.org, or at 810-300-9177.

DATE & LOCATION

Saturday, January 27, 2024
10:00-2:00 pm

St. John’s Episcopal Church
206 W. Maple Street
Mount Pleasant, MI 48858
stjohnsmtpleasantmi.com

REGISTRATION

The cost to attend is $25 per person.

Please register by January 20th. Space is limited and may fill before the deadline.

REGISTER

Christmas Message from Bishop Skip | 2023

December 20, 2023/in Blog, News/by Katie Forsyth

Christmas greetings dear Michiganders East and West.

As we approach the Feast of the Nativity I remind us of a reading from the Letter to Titus as one of the propers appointed for Christmas Day:

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all”. Titus 2:11

I sometimes think that God is afraid I won’t get it. One year, twenty minutes before a Christmas Eve service was to begin, a woman and her two small children showed up at the church to ask for food. Another year, a young woman of 17 called me on Christmas Eve to tell me she was pregnant and terrified to tell her parents. Then there was another Christmas Eve when I drove into the church parking lot, to find a young man standing on the parish hall landing, who had just been released from prison and had no money to get home.

Based on such circumstances, perhaps you are thinking that I am going to say that Christmas is about helping people. Well, yes, but it is much more and goes far deeper. It seems that God is trying to tell me that the truth of the Manger is found precisely in people like the three I mentioned, and the sermons this preacher needs to hear or see are those right in front of me. The “grace of God has appeared” in these broken, vulnerable people. They are the presence of Christ, are Christ, and it is as if God is saying, “If you cannot see me in them, then neither will you see me in the Manger.”

In the Manger, God becomes touchable and seeable, flesh and blood. It also means that becomes woundable and killable, thinking ahead to Good Friday. Yet, taking that risk, God has appeared and does appear in broken bread and a cup of wine, in a newborn child or a family feast, in a kind word spoken or in Holy Scriptures, in a pregnant teenager, a man just released from prison, or a hungry family.

The Manger proclaims that God loves us in our full humanity and is, for us, in brokenness as well as joy. My hope is that we will be willing to touch the Christ, however they appear, knowing the Christ-Child who first comes to touch us. Secure in God’s embrace, we embrace the world he came to save, wherever and however God shows up.

A holy and blessed Christmas to all.

Bishop Skip

Saludos navideños estimados Michiganders del este y oeste.

Al acercarnos a la fiesta de la Natividad, recuerdo una lectura de la Carta a Tito como uno de los apoyos designados para el día de la Navidad:

“Porque ha aparecido la gracia de Dios, que trae la salvación a todos”. Tito 2:11

A veces pienso que Dios tiene miedo de que no lo consiga. Un año, veinte minutos antes que comenzara un servicio de Nochebuena, una mujer y sus dos hijos pequeños se presentaron en la iglesia para pedir comida. Otro año, una joven de 17 años me llamó en Nochebuena para decirme que estaba embarazada y que le aterrorizaba decírselo a sus padres. En otra Nochebuena, entré en el estacionamiento de la iglesia y me encontré a un joven en el rellano del salón parroquial que acababa de salir de la cárcel y no tenía dinero para regresar a casa.

Basándose en tales circunstancias, quizá esté pensando que dirá que la Navidad consiste en ayudar a la gente. Bueno, sí, pero es mucho más y va mucho más allá. Parece que Dios está tratando de decirme que la verdad del Pesebre se encuentra precisamente en personas como las tres que he mencionado, y los sermones que este predicador necesita escuchar o ver son los que tengo delante de mí. La “gracia de Dios se ha manifestado” en estas personas rotas y vulnerables. Son la presencia de Cristo, son Cristo, y es como si Dios dijera: “Si no puedes verme en ellos, tampoco me verás en el Pesebre”.

En el Pesebre, Dios se hace tocable y visible, de carne y hueso. También significa que se convierte en herible y matable, pensando en el Viernes Santo. Sin embargo, asumiendo ese riesgo, Dios se ha aparecido y se aparece en el pan partido y en la copa de vino, en un recién nacido o en una fiesta familiar, en una palabra amable pronunciada o en las Sagradas Escrituras, en una adolescente embarazada, en un hombre recién salido de la cárcel o en una familia hambrienta.

El Pesebre proclama que Dios nos ama en nuestra plena humanidad y está, para nosotros, tanto en el quebranto como en la alegría. Mi esperanza es que estemos dispuestos a tocar a Cristo, aparezcan como aparezcan, conociendo al Niño-Cristo que primero viene a tocarnos. Seguros en el abrazo de Dios, abrazamos el mundo que Él vino a salvar, dondequiera y comoquiera que Dios se manifieste.

Una santa y bendita Navidad para todos.

Obispo Skip

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100191 Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Feedback Sessions with Building Bridges

December 12, 2023/in Blog, Event Details, News/by Michelle Ruiz

Opportunities to Review and Provide Input on Proposals

It’s been a busy and complex many years in the Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan. Since Eastern Michigan first issued the invitation to discernment in 2018 and Western Michigan responded with “yes!” in 2019, together we’ve navigated a pandemic, two cases of bishop discipline, and a rapidly changing church. These years and moments have been spirit-filled and not always easy, but we’ve navigated them well with deep care for one another, the communities we tend, and for the future of our beloved church.

With a March Special Convention on the horizon, we are in the last few months of our discernment process as partnering dioceses and we need YOUR help!!

At our recent diocesan convention, our Building Bridges Steering Committee offered an extended report about their work over the last several years: what they’ve done, what they’ve heard, what they’ve learned, and – based on those things – what this all tells us about opportunities present for us as Episcopalians in this place. Their report, titled “Better Together” articulates the “why” of their recommendation to move forward seeking “juncture” – the creation of a new diocese out of our combined body.

Click here to access the 2023 Building Bridges Report to Convention.
Click here to access the new Frequently Asked Questions, created from input from delegates.

As articulated in the report, the Building Bridges team is hard at work, gathering leaders and drafting documents that are required for the Agreement of Union – the set of materials which will be submitted to the Special Joint Convention on March 16th in the vote for juncture. Should our joint convention act for juncture, the Agreement of Union would be submitted to the General Convention of The Episcopal Church for affirmation. The Agreement of Union includes:

The Constitution and Canons for the new diocese (The canons would then be presented for adoption – with amendment possible – at the first convention of the new diocese in October.)
Summary of the financial resources and means of funding the mission and ministries of the new diocese
Timeline and basic plan for the election of the first bishop diocesan of the proposed new diocese
Name of the new diocese
And more!

We’ve been working on these drafts to present in full to the pre-convention meetings and Special Convention of the dioceses, however before we finalize them, we need your input and feedback on several areas of recommendation: apportionment calculations, regions/collaboratives, the make up of diocesan councils and standing committees, etc. During these upcoming Feedback Sessions, our committee will walk participants through these recommendations, identifying what the current canons of each our dioceses say, what the committee recommends for a new diocese and why. Your input will directly influence the final, content of the Agreement of Union as it will be submitted to the Special Joint Convention and this critical step in developing our canons and structures.

Your input can also help us identify what we may be yet missing, additional areas of concern, and more. While the canons can be adapted and amended up until their formal adoption at the first convention in October (and in all conventions that follow), we want them as complete as possible when we vote on juncture in March. We aren’t seeking perfection, but have worked hard to develop a good foundation on which a new diocese can begin, get a healthy start and evolve over time.

We need your voice on this – yes, yours – to present the best of our collective wisdom, expertise, and experience. Please join us for one of five upcoming online and in-person Feedback Sessions (dates and RSVP links below). Your participation is essential to this process! Please share this invitation widely with your congregation.

We’re still finalizing these recommendations as we incorporate feedback from our diocesan leadership that met just a few weeks ago. Once available, this information will be emailed to registered participants and posted publicly to the Building Bridges pages of our diocesan websites – Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan.

Questions about this event? Please contact Katie Forsyth, Canon for Evangelism and Networking, at kforsyth@eastmich.org or kforsyth@edwm.org.

DATES & RSVP

Tuesday, January 16 from 1-3pm on Zoom (Clergy) – All Clergy Call (No RSVP Required)
Saturday, January 20 from 2-4pm at St. David’s, Lansing* (Lay and Clergy)
Sunday, January 21 from 1-3pm on Zoom (Lay and Clergy)
Thursday, January 25 from 6-8pm on Zoom (Lay and Clergy)
Saturday, January 27 from 2-4pm at St. Francis, Grayling* (Lay and Clergy)

*In the event of dangerous weather, our in-person gatherings will transition to Zoom and participants will be notified.

RSVP

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Update on the Search for the Northern Staff Canon

December 7, 2023/in Blog/by Michelle Ruiz

Dear Courageous Disciples,

We are eager to call the new Canon for the Northern Collaborative, Beloved Community, and Creation Care – an essential member of our diocesan staff team and for this crucial ministry area of our dioceses!

While we have had some interest, we have yet to call the right person into this key position. However, especially in its support for the Northern Collaborative, filling this position as soon as possible with a qualified, future-focused candidate is a priority of our Joint Standing Committees.

The priest called into this role will coach, encourage, and equip congregations to align with the mission and vision of the dioceses in their local contexts of ministry working closely with the Canons serving the Central and Southern Collaboratives, our whole bi-diocesan staff, and all diocesan leaders. They will visit faith communities within their jurisdiction on Sundays and at other times and provide pastoral and other support for the collaborative’s clergy and lay leaders. With a bi-diocesan-wide focus on Beloved Community and Creation Care, the Canon will coach to inspire and resource congregations to practice inclusion, reconciliation, and active ministries addressing issues of racial and other discrimination, and the care of all creation and our island home.

The search process – updated since our change in the episcopate – will follow these steps:

Applications will be first received by Eastern Michigan Standing Committee President, Barbara Ilkka (St. John’s, Saginaw)
Application is forwarded to bi-diocesan Transition Officer, the Rev. Canon Tracie Little, for initial vetting and reference checks
Application is forwarded to assisting bishop, the Rt. Rev. Skip Adams, for a bishop-to-bishop call (if they come from another diocese, this is a reference check with their current bishop)
Applications are forwarded to the bi-diocesan Search Committee, who will communicate with the applicant for additional questions, conduct Zoom interviews, and make a recommendation for finalist(s) to the Joint Standing Committees and Assisting Bishop.
Full background check is initiated.
Joint Standing Committees and Assisting Bishop conducts final interview with finalist(s).
Joint Standing Committee and Assisting Bishop, with support from the Transitions Officer, negotiates and drafts Letter of Agreement with the finalist.
Once the Letter of Agreement is finalized and signed, we will share news of a new call broadly and with joy!!

Canon Little is working with the Joint Standing Committees on a renewed push to advertise this position. We are asking all interested candidates to apply by the end of the year, December 31, 2023. Click here to access the Office of Transition Ministries (OTM) posting.

Those with networks in the greater dioceses and Episcopal Church, please prayerfully consider who you might invite to consider applying for this life-giving and impactful position. Please share on social media and in clergy professional groups – we could use your help spreading the word about ministry in these amazing dioceses and in this beautiful peninsula! And please continue to pray for this process, for our dioceses, and for the priest who will step into this call.

Almighty God, giver of every good gift: Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the minds of those who shall choose a Canon for these dioceses, that we may receive a faithful pastor, who will care for your people and equip us for our ministries, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, page 818)

Yours in Christ,

Barbara Ilkka
Standing Committee President
Diocese of Eastern Michigan

The Rev. Anne Schnaare
Standing Committee President
Diocese of Western Michigan

How I See My Monastic Solitary Life

December 5, 2023/in Blog/by Michelle Ruiz

By Sarah Swart, St. Luke’s, Kalamazoo

Since my vows at the convention Eucharist, I’ve had some queries about my vocation as a monastic solitary. My call came out of a lot of daily prayer from the day my husband was guided by Jesus into his eternal life. That day and every day after I prayed “Lord guide my life. Let me be what You see for my life.” In my spiritual companionship with Ann Prentice, Order of St. Helena, we prayed and explored Gods call to me. I realized God was waiting for me to be ready!

At first, like a fawn on her first legs, I tried out what later became my vows to see how they felt to me. My grief subsided and my joy sang in my spirit. From November to January I practiced Simplicity, Chastity, and Obedience. By January, I clearly knew God was creating that yearning in my soul.

Living with Simplicity is my most prominent discerning piece still. In our world, living simply, creating a hermitage in my apartment home, spending when I need something but questioning if it is a need or want, shopping in thrift and second hand stores to find my needs first, waiting before buying impulsively are all strategies in living simply.

Being committed to a life of Chastity so I can serve God and put the I-Thou of the Trinity first gives me time to structure a life of prayer. Prayer is both silent and audible. In my silent prayer I feel very drawn into God. My days are a balance of prayer, serving in my church, rest, study, and praising God. I have a “grace day” each week when I do my errands, appointments, and take a break from the daily rhythm of the Offices, prayer, silence, and study.

The Daily Offices are a mix of online and individual. I pray the Offices – Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline using the Daily Office App from the Order of St. Helena, written in inclusive language by OSH. I supplement this with online versions: Tuesday and Thursday Compline with St. Mark’s, Newaygo on their Facebook streaming and Sunday Evening prayer with either Washington National Cathedral or Canterbury Cathedral on YouTube. I’m enjoying singing and chanting hymns from the Offices thanks to the OSH scores and coaching practice from Marilyn Ossentjuk, Minister of Music at St. Luke’s, Kalamazoo.

The vow of Obedience keeps me in touch with my commitments as monastic solitary. I wear my alb to church as a reminder to all to pray without ceasing. My relationships with my friends and acquaintances continue as a way of caring and prayer as they share their joys and concerns with me.

I am currently a student in the diocesan lay preaching program and am taking an online workshop from Berkeley at Yale.

I still pray, “God, guide my life.”

I would love to share with you further if you or your congregation wishes to explore more! You can reach me at swartsarah67@gmail.com or 269-716-1008.

A Word from Bishop Skip for the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle

November 30, 2023/in Blog, News/by Michelle Ruiz

Dear People of Eastern and Western Michigan,

It seems appropriate that on this Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, and right on the cusp of Advent, that I send you a word of greeting in the name of our Savior, Jesus.

It is with a grateful heart that I have accepted the invitation of each diocese’s Standing Committee, and will walk with you once again for a time as your Assisting Bishop. When I was ordained a bishop in 2001, then Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold gave me a framed statement from St. Augustine. It reads:

“For you I am a bishop, but with you I am a Christian; one is an office, accepted; the other is a gift, received. One is danger; the other is safety. If I am happier to be redeemed with you than to be placed over you, then I shall, as the Lord commanded, be more fully your Servant.”

It is with such an attitude that I seek to walk the way of faith with you these next months. You are a remarkable people who have endured much. I want to honor the faith that is clearly present among you and in you. My hope is that we will have the opportunity to celebrate well all God in Christ is doing, and will be doing, among us. When given the opportunity, I seek to call forth that grace so abundantly present, name it when I see it, and with you, stay rooted in gratitude that springs forth in joy and hope.

Below you will find a short reflection that I offer, hoping it grounds us in the work we have before us.

Blessings and peace,

The Rt. Rev. Skip Adams
Assisting Bishop
The Episcopal Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan

St. Andrew the Apostle

November 30, 2023

“Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” So says Matthew 4:19 in the Gospel appointed for this Feast of St. Andrew. Some would call him the first missionary in the company of disciples. One of the two main images for mission and ministry in the New Testament is that of fishing. The other is that of a shepherd.

I am drawn to the fishing metaphor in the context of remembering St. Andrew, whom we know along with his brother Peter, was a fisherman. It will not be a surprise for some of you that I find the image of fishing compelling, as I am a passionate fly fisher. If you need evidence, all you need to know is that a rainbow trout appears on the front panel of my green set of Eucharistic vestments.

What may be a surprise, however, is that when my mind goes to fishing, it also goes to grace, that unmerited, undeserved gift of God. Norman Maclean, in the novella “A River Runs Through It,” says it best: “My father was very sure about certain matters pertaining to the universe. To him, all good things—trout as well as eternal salvation—come by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy.”

When I wave a bamboo fly rod in the wind, made from a living grass by loving hands through a process of drying, splitting, milling, sanding, gluing and varnishing that takes 300 to 500 hours of crafting; cast a fly that I wrapped and tied to a hook through the manipulations of my own fingers; use feathers and hair from animals of God’s creation that once had blood coursing through their veins; and watch a sleek muscular trout rise to take it, that I am told has been virtually unchanged in the gene pool for 2 million years; that is grace, it is art, and it is never easy.

We pray in the Collect for this day that we would have the same grace given to Andrew to readily obey the call of Jesus Christ. Christian ministry is pure grace, it is an art and it is never easy. Yet it is joy, for it is the self-emptying way of the cross bringing hope to all.

Almighty God, who gave such grace to your apostle Andrew that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ, and brought his brother with him: Give us, who are called by your Holy Word, grace to follow him without delay, and to bring those near to us into his gracious presence; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Icon Image: Apostle Andrew, the Holy and All-Praised First-Called via the Orthodox Church in America.

2024 DIOCESAN CONFIRMATION SERVICES

November 30, 2023/in Blog, Event Details, News/by Michelle Ruiz

2024 DIOCESAN CONFIRMATION SERVICES

The Episcopal Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan plan to host four services of Confirmation, Reception, and Reaffirmation in 2024, the Rt. Rev. Skip Adams, assisting bishop, presiding.

All are invited to join in celebrating and praying for the Church’s newest Episcopal leaders as part of these services and throughout this year, whether in person or via live stream.

Candidates (those being confirmed, received, or reaffirmed in The Episcopal Church) must be registered ahead of time by their church. Please see details below.

Clergy are asked to process in cassock and surplice with red stoles.

Photo: A member of St. Martin’s, Kalamazoo is confirmed during the final confirmation of 2023 at St. Timothy’s, Richland.

DATES & LOCATIONS

Saturday, April 13th

Registration deadline – March 30
2:30 Rehearsal
4:00 Service

St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church
1523 N. Oak Rd.
Davison, MI 48423

stdunstansdavison.org

Sunday, June 1st

Registration deadline – May 25
2:30 Rehearsal
4:00 Service

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
1025 3 Mile Rd. NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49505

standrewsgr.org

Saturday, September 28th

Registration deadline – September 14
2:30 Rehearsal
4:00 Service

Emmanuel Episcopal Church
1020 E. Mitchell St.
Petoskey, MI 49770

eecpetoskey.org

Saturday, November 9th

Registration deadline – October 26
2:30 Rehearsal
4:00 Service

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
27 E. Chicago St.
Coldwater, MI 49036

stmarkscoldwater.com

FOR CANDIDATES & SPONSORS

All candidates must be pre-registered by their parish to participate in the service and receive their signed certificate. Individuals should not register themselves.

Please register all participants two weeks before the service.

REGISTER

Worship Leader Training 2024

November 28, 2023/in Blog, Event Details, News/by Michelle Ruiz

Opportunities in 2024 for lay leaders seeking licensing

Worship is a powerful place – a place that transforms and empowers. What we do when we gather is so much more than reciting words set down in an approved collection of liturgies. This is the place where we may find ourselves awakened by God and stretched to reach new depths of faith, new ways of connecting what is going on in the world with how we might faithfully respond. This is the place where we encounter God as we meet our own lives. This is the place where we are challenged to do more than simply sit through a “surface meeting with God”. It is in worship that “we should be lashed to the pews because God just might awake and draw us out to new depths.”

(“Worship as Theology: Foretaste of Glory Divine” by Don Saliers, page 22).

Have you felt the tiny nudging of God to be a part of putting together and officiating powerful and transformative lay-led liturgies? Have you heard that tiny whispering to learn more about leading worship? Have you been invited by your church to become a licensed Lay Worship Leader? Or perhaps you’ve been a licensed Worship Leader for a while and you’re looking to expand your knowledge and capacities?

Here’s your chance! Our office of Adult Formation will offer several opportunities for training in 2024.

Licenses are sometimes perceived as an administrative burden at best and a means of gatekeeping at worst. We see them, however, as an important opportunity to demonstrate the importance of a ministry and the work people are doing by investing time and resources into ensuring they are properly equipped and recognized for what they do.

Worship Leaders are laity who regularly lead public worship in the absence of clergy. Training for this license takes place at the diocesan level or in another setting pre-approved by the Canon for Adult Formation. Individuals seeking renewal (EM – Advent 2026, WM – Advent 2027) are expected to participate in continuing education.

Please read below for dates and registration, including the most immediate basic-level training coming up on Saturday, January 13th.

Photo: Anne Davidson leads worship at St. Mark’s, Coldwater; three worship leaders are celebrated and blessed at St. Paul’s, Bad Axe.

Questions about this event? Please contact our trainer, the Rev. Paul Brunell (Christ Church, Owosso) at pbrunell_grayling@hotmail.com or at 989-723-2495.

OUR FIRST SESSION:

BASIC WORSHIP LEADING

Saturday, January 13, 2024, 10 – 2 pm via Zoom

Our “Basic Worship Leading” training is the introductory session offered to all seeking licensure as a Lay Worship Leader. It will provide an overview of the Book of Common Prayer and specific instruction for planning and facilitating Morning Prayer.

Participants should have a copy of the Book of Common Prayer that you can write in with you as you participate in the session. Before we begin, please flip through the entire book to get a sense of the depth and breadth of what the book contains.

This class will provide the background you need in order to complete the Lay Worship Leader licensing test.

UPCOMING DATES:

2024 TRAININGS

Saturday, January 13, 2024 via Zoom – Basic Worship Leader Training
(Registration deadline: January 7)
Saturday, February 3, 2024 via Zoom – Lent and Holy Week*
(Registration deadline: January 28)
Saturday, May 4, 2024 at St. Andrew’s, Gaylord – Basic Worship Leader Training (incl. lunch)
(Registration deadline: April 28)
Saturday, September 14, 2024 via Zoom – Funeral Preparation*
(Registration deadline: September 8)

* Continuing education sessions require participants to have already completed their license to serve as a Worship Leader.

REGISTRATION

The cost to participate is $25 per session, which helps to cover trainer time, materials, and other associated expenses.

If the cost to attend is a barrier to your participation and you are unable to recieve financial support from your congregation, please contact Canon Little at tlittle@eastmich.org or tlittle@edwm.org.

Please read the list of dates above for registration deadlines.

REGISTER