News Archives - Page 5 of 19 - The Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan

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.

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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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.

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.

Bishop Skip Adams Returns as Assisting Bishop

November 21, 2023/in Blog, News/by Michelle Ruiz

Dear Courageous Disciples,

Our dioceses are no strangers to engaging big questions together and taking on challenges. In early September, our bishop provisional was restricted from ministry and resigned from office. Our Joint Standing Committees once again took on the responsibility of the ecclesiastical authority of our dioceses.

Since that moment, the people and communities of our dioceses have continued thriving and growing mission and ministry. We’ve gathered for our fourth joint convention, focused on our life together as “innovative, collaborative, courageous disciples.” We’ve prayed for one another as friends and family, we’ve expressed anxieties about this new season, we’ve grieved the loss of another bishop so quickly and painfully, and we’ve looked ahead to our next leg of the journey together, building bridges across our body from the sunrise shores of Lake Huron to the sunset shores of Lake Michigan.

As we move forward, we write with exciting and hope-filled news: the Rt. Rev. Skip Gladstone Adams will formally return to our body as Assisting Bishop, expected to serve from now until the calling of a new bishop provisional or bishop diocesan.

Many will remember Bishop Skip’s compassionate, playful, and prayerful ministry amongst us as Assisting Bishop during our previous bishop suspension in 2021. His time with us was cut short due to limitations on his time set by eligibility requirements of the Church Pension Group. Our Standing Committees and CFO are attentive to the restrictions of CPG to prevent a future complication related to his continued eligibility as a retired bishop. Also for this new term, our dioceses once again required a new thorough background and reference check process. That process has been completed and produced no challenges.

“Assisting Bishops” are already-consecrated bishops (meaning, they’ve served in another diocese before) and are called to serve in a specific role as determined by the ecclesiastical authority. The areas that our Joint Standing Committees have specifically asked Bishop Skip to attend to include:

Pastoral care and support to clergy, leadership, and laity of the dioceses, specifically attentive to our reality of having two recent situations of bishop discipline
Support, wisdom, and advice to diocesan leadership
Represent the dioceses in the House of Bishops and in councils of the wider Episcopal Church
Preside over diocesan liturgies: confirmations, ordinations, celebrations of new ministry
Consultation and support for diocesan staff
Assistance with elements of clergy transitions and discernment processes: bishop-to-bishop calls, consent to Letters of Agreement, letters dimissory, selection of postulants and candidates for ordination, supervision of deacons (in consultation with archdeacons and staffs), clergy licensing, disciplinary matters

His service with us is part-time, about 12-15 hours per week. He will be primarily remote, serving with us from his home in New York state while traveling in occasionally for some in-person gatherings. The costs related to this position are shared equally between the dioceses.

A short bio for Bishop Skip is included below this note. Please join us in warmly welcoming Bishop Skip back to our dioceses. His email addresses are sadams@eastmich.org and sadams@edwm.org.

Yours in Christ,
The Joint Standing Committees

Barbara Ilkka, President
St. John’s, Saginaw

The Ven. Linda Crane
Grace, Port Huron

The Rev. Don Davidson
Canonically Resident, Eastern MI

Jelecia Geraghty
St. Paul’s, Flint

Neil Hargrave
St. John’s, Dryden

The Rev. Jerry Lasley
St. Christopher’s, Grand Blanc

The Rev. Anne Schnaare, President
Grace, Grand Rapids

The Rev. Valerie Ambrose
Retired, Grand Rapids

Freya Gilbert
St. Paul’s, St. Joseph

The Rev. Molly Bosscher
St. Andrew’s, Grand Rapids

Carole Redwine
St. Philip’s, Grand Rapids

Ellen Schrader
Grace, Traverse City

Fred Skidmore
St. Andrew’s, Grand Rapids

The Rev. Eileen Stoffan
St. Paul’s, Muskegon

Photo: Bishop Adams leads prayer during a bi-diocesan gathering at St. Andrew’s, Gaylord in 2021.

ABOUT BISHOP SKIP ADAMS

The Rt. Rev. Gladstone “Skip” Adams was the tenth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York, where he served from 2001-2016. He is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and is a graduate of Towson University and Virginia Theological Seminary. In his ordained life, he served churches in New York, Virginia, New Hampshire, and Maryland before his episcopacy. He is committed to the Church’s role in speaking out and advocating around environmental and social issues in response to Jesus’ command to love God and one’s neighbor as oneself.

Bishop Adams served as Bishop Provisional with the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina from September 2016 – December 2019. Among other things, he led the diocese through an extended and painful court process concerning diocesan property, names, and trademarks after the former diocesan bishop orchestrated a wide-reaching schism from The Episcopal Church in 2012. In 2021, he served as Assisting Bishop with the Episcopal Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan.

Bishop Adams enjoys fly-fishing, reading, music, camping, and canoeing. He and his wife, Bonnie, a registered nurse, live in Upstate New York. They have three adult children – Peter, Stephen, and Emily – and two grandchildren, Greyson and Hazel.

DEEP GREEN FAITH: A CREATION CARE WORKSHOP

November 17, 2023/in Blog, Event Details, News/by Michelle Ruiz

Saturday, December 2nd from 10 am – Noon via Zoom

As Christians and as Episcopalians, our faith is deeply rooted in God’s love for all creation as proclaimed in scriptures and as expressed through our practice and worship. We are called to attend to the needs of both faith and creation.

On Saturday, December 2nd from 10 am to Noon, we will be joined by the Rev. Jerry Cappel, D. Min., Episcopal priest and director of the Center for Deep Green Faith to consider ways that individuals and churches can expand creation care beyond committee actions, material stewardship, and personal life adjustments, onto a more integrated expression of faith and whole church life. How might faith communities embody and bear witness to the inclusion of all creation in their lives of faith, worship, and witness? How can our choices and practices better express a gospel that welcomes and heals all of creation?

Participants will explore these questions in terms of bible and theology, prayer and worship, community and hospitality, and witness and service.

We invite participants joining our Zoom gathering individually or as parish small groups participating together.

This online event is hosted by the bi-diocesan Creation Care Task Force.

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

OUR SPEAKER

The Rev. Jerry Cappel, D. Min. is a priest serving St. James Episcopal Church in Shelbyville, KY and as director of The Center for Deep Green Faith.
Grounded in theology and contemplative practice, the Center cultivates the growth of deeper green faith for individuals and their faith communities. Their offerings blend eco-theology with eco-spirituality, combining biblical studies and other forms of learning with contemplative practice to deepen faith, broaden solidarity with the oppressed, and foster responsible living on Earth.

While ecumenically minded and welcoming of interfaith work, the Center is solidly grounded in Christian tradition. We believe a deeper appreciation of the gospel of God’s all-encompassing salvation for creation renews our faith and more deeply connects us to the larger web of life. We are convinced that a crisis of spirit and faith lies at the root of our current global perils of environmental degradation, climate change, violence, and injustice.

RSVP

There is no cost to attend this workshop. Please RSVP to receive your Zoom link.

RSVP

ADVENT RETREAT FOR CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND FAMILIES

November 7, 2023/in Blog, Event Details, News/by Michelle Ruiz

Welcome the Season with Joyful Anticipation!

For most of us – especially children – the month of December is full of joyful expectation. We are people in search of hope and joy throughout the season of Advent. The season can be full of surprises and wonder. The story of Christmas is one full of anticipation; from the stars in the heavens to the shepherds in the fields, a sense of magic is in the air.

Families with children and youth on their own are invited to join the bi-diocesan Children and Youth Formation Team for a weekend retreat welcoming the Advent season at Camp Scottie in Howard City the weekend of December 1-3. There will be time for hiking outdoors, cozy winter fires, songs, fellowship, crafting and learning together.

Lodging will be in community bunkhouses with all meals are included. Youth in middle and high school are welcome to come for the weekend to retreat without their parents under the supervision of our formation team.

Questions about this event? Please contact McKenzie Knill (Director of Children, Youth, and Young Adult Formation) at mknill@eastmich.org or mknill@edwm.org, or the Rev. Beckett Leclaire (Youth Missioner for Admin) at bleclaire@eastmich.org or bleclaire@edwm.org.

DATE & LOCATION

December 1-3, 2023*
Check-in: Friday, 4:30pm
Depart: Sunday, 2:00pm

Camp Scottie
8181 Newcosta Ave
Howard City, MI 49329
camproger.org/camp-scottie-site

REGISTRATION

WHO IS INVITED?
Elementary aged children with their families.
Middle and High-School Youth attending without a parent present.

OTHER REGISTRATION DETAILS
The cost to attend has been subsidized to $25 per person.
Children under five years old can register for free.

The deadline to register is November 20th. Space is limited and may fill before the deadline.

Charge Youth Event 2023

October 18, 2023/in Blog, Event Details, News/by Michelle Ruiz

A Youth Event for 6-9th Graders at the Great Wolf Lodge

Episcopalians in 6th-9th grades from around our dioceses are invited to join our Lutheran neighbors from Living Water Ministries for a weekend of fellowship, prayer, fun and community at the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City.

The first wave of Generation Z is growing into adolescence and many of the children in this generation simply don’t have a grasp on who Jesus is and why he is relevant in their everyday lives. Charge is an event that attempts to bridge this gap by providing a powerful faith community where students can grow in faith, engage in service, and develop leadership skills, all while enjoying the amenities of Great Wolf Lodge. Participants at Charge are equipped and empowered to learn, lead, laugh, and love as an expression of their faith in Jesus. It is our hope that participants depart energized to transform the world in the name of Christ!

Worship, small groups, small group time, workshops, recreation options, and an outdoor campfire camp-style are all elements of this powerful gathering of community!

Questions about this event? Please contact McKenzie Knill (Director of Children, Youth, and Young Adult Formation) at mknill@eastmich.org or mknill@edwm.org, or Jeff Brown (Youth Missioner for the Central Collaborative) at jbrown@eastmich.org or jbrown@edwm.org.

DATE & LOCATION

November 10-12, 2023

Check-in: Friday, 6:30pm
Pick Up: Sunday, 1:00pm

Great Wolf Lodge
3575 US-31
Traverse City, MI 49684
www.greatwolf.com

REGISTRATION

The cost to attend is $150 per participating youth and $100 per adult chaperone and includes accommodations, meals, and all materials.

Please register by November 1st.