A Preface to this week’s Friday Reflection
As most of you are aware from the most recent Chancellor’s update; the Schofield case (28 properties, ECCO, and the endowment funds) has tentatively been decided in favor of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin. This is the wonderful news that we have been hoping and praying for, and it is also quite profound for us and for our brothers and sisters of the Anglican Diocese.
We invite all of us as a community of faith into a “holy pause” as we reflect on the implications of this decision for all of us. We trust the Sprit to lead us into our next steps and next phase as we move forward.
The decision is tentative and we await further news from the court. Please look for further details from the Chancellor in upcoming Chancellor Updates.
Faithfully,
Bishop David Canon Kate
The Friday Reflection Title
5-9-2014
ECW is Alive and Well in Hanford
Although at the diocesan level the ECW (Episcopal Church Women) may not have as visible a profile as in years past, it is alive and functioning with great success at the Church of the Saviour in Hanford.
In the past three years we have raised over $12,000 to benefit our church’s ministry and community outreach. These include our Soup Kitchen, organ restoration, decoration and staffing of our nursery, Remembrance Wall in our Columbarium and the G.I.F.T.S. (Gifts Intended For The Spirit) Program. The latter is our church’s newest outreach program, and seeks to build on our Soup Kitchen’s work of providing nourishment for the body. Its purpose is to offer variety of activates for families, couples and individuals which feed the spirits of fellowship, curiosity, joy and recreation. They could include a night at the movies or at a local restaurant; it could include a day at an adventure park or zoo. We know these may be ordinary pastimes for us, but for many in our area they are unusual luxuries. Through the work of Teri Van Huss, our seminarian, and members of the ECW, this project is already underway, serving people and building links with our local community.
We also sponsor events of “in-reach”, special fun parish events such as a tour of Harris Horse Division and lunch at Harris Ranch, “Bring Your Favorite Wine” tasting evening, a trip to the Chaffee Zoo, and a parish pot luck to welcome Teri Van Huss when she first joined us. Moreover, when requested, we host receptions for weddings, funerals, and many community events.
Ladies, don’t you miss the fellowship that only women can bring to a ministry? ECW is a perfect venue to enjoy one another while doing the Lord’s work! Please, keep the ECW in your prayers!
ECW, Church of the Saviour, Hanford
“Participating in God’s Reconciling Love”
About St. Mark’s ,Tracy…
Members of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and other interested Episcopalians….
There is a special meeting with Bishop David Tuesday, May 13, 2014 at 4:30 p.m. The meeting will be at the home of Tom and Cathy Dugan, 49 Wisteria Lane, Tracy. Light refreshments will be served. All are welcome to come.
People News…
Congratulations go to…
Teri Van Huss
who will be graduating from The School for Deacons May 18, 2014.
Administrator Ellen Meyer
was re-elected as the B+E+S+T (Bishop’s Exectutive Secretaries Together Province VIII Representative for 2014. B+E+S+T has been around since 1986 and is an organization for Bishop Executive Secretaries and Administrators. The mission of B+E+S+T (is to empower our members through networking and education to value our ministry and to support the ministry of our bishops and the wider Church
Facebook…
New Facebook Page!
Check out postings from Bishop David and Canon Kate at
Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin
Did You Know….
History of the English Church
SPREAD OF THE CHURCH
From the time of the Reformation, the Church of England followed explorers, traders, colonists, and missionaries into the far reaches of the known world. The colonial churches generally exercised administrative autonomy within the historical and creedal context of the mother church.
As the successor of the Anglo-Saxon and medieval English Church, it has valued and preserved much of the traditional framework of medieval Catholicism in church government, liturgy, and customs, while it also has usually held the fundamentals of Reformation faith.
The conversion of the Anglo-Saxons, who began invading Britain after Rome stopped governing the country in the 5th century, was undertaken by St. Augustine, a monk in Rome chosen by Pope Gregory I to lead a mission to the Anglo-Saxons. He arrived in 597, and within 90 years, all the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England had gradually accepted Christianity.
In the 11th century, the Norman conquest of England (1066) united England more closely with the culture of Latin Europe. The English Church was reformed according to Roman ideas: local synods were revived, celibacy of the clergy was required, and the canon law of Western Europe was introduced into England.
The English Church shared in the religious unrest characteristic of the latter Middle Ages. John Wycliffe, the 14th century reformer and theologian, became a revolutionary critic of the papacy and is considered a major influence on the 16th century Protestant Reformation.
The break with the Roman papacy and the establishment of an independent Church of England came during the reign of Henry VIII of England (1509-47). When Pope Clement VIII refused to approve the annulment of Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon, the English Parliament, at Henry’s insistence, passed a series of acts that separated the English Church from the Roman hierarchy, and, in 1534, made the English monarch the head of the English Church. The monasteries were suppressed, but few other changes were immediately made, since Henry intended that the English Church would remain Catholic, though separated from Rome.
After Henry’s death, Protestant reforms of the Church were introduced during the six-year reign of Edward VI. In 1553, however, when Edward’s half-sister, Mary, a Roman Catholic, succeeded to the throne, her repression and persecution of Protestants created sympathy for their cause.
When Elizabeth I, Henry’s daughter, became queen in 1558, an independent Church of England was reestablished. The Book of Common Prayer (1549, final revision 1662) and the Thirty-Nine Articles (1571) became the standard for liturgy and doctrine.
MOVEMENTS WITHIN THE CHURCH
The Evangelical Movement in the 18th century tended to emphasize the Protestant heritage of the Church, while the Oxford Movement in the 19th century emphasized the Catholic heritage. These two attitudes have persisted in the Church, and are sometimes characterized as “Low Church” and “High Church.” Since the 19th century, the Church has been active in the Ecumenical Movement.
POLITY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND
The Church of England has maintained the episcopal form of government. It is divided into two provinces, Canterbury and York, each headed by an Archbishop, with Canterbury taking precedence over York. Provinces are divided into dioceses, each headed by a bishop and made up of several parishes.
The Church of England is identified by adherence to the threefold ministry of bishops, priests, and deacons, and by a common form of worship found in the Book of Common Prayer. The Church also is characterized by a common loyalty to Christian tradition, while seeking to accommodate a wide range of people and views. It holds in tension the authorities of tradition, reason, and the Bible, but asserts the primacy of the Bible. It thus seeks to combine Catholic, humanist, and reformed elements, historically represented by Anglo-Catholics (high church), Liberals (broad church), and Evangelicals (low church).
WORLDWIDE CHURCH POLITY
It was probably not until the first meeting of the Lambeth Conference in 1867 that there emerged among the various churches and councils a mutual consciousness of Anglicanism. Although its decisions do not bind the autonomous churches of the Anglican Communion, the Lambeth Conference has constituted the principal cohesive factor in Anglicanism. While population differences and other factors account for some variation in the basic structure among the churches, several elements do predominate. The diocese, under the leadership of a bishop, is the basic administrative unit throughout the communion. The diocese is a group of church communities (parishes) under the care of a pastor. In many of the national churches, several dioceses will be grouped together into provinces. In some, parishes may be grouped within a diocese into deaneries (rural) and archdeaneries (urban).
(Copyright 1999, Diocese of Oregon. All rights reserved.)
From The EPISCOPAL CHURCH website www.episcopalchurch.org
From the Diocesan Office…
ALL MAIL….
for the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, Bishop, Canon, and Administrator is to go to the current address: 1528 Oakdale Road, Modesto, CA 95355
Time sensitive material can be emailed to: [email protected].
Whats going on…
What’s Happening in the DIO
Meeting with St. Mark’s, Tracy, May 13, 2014, 4:30 p.m.
Diocesan Council Teleconference Meeting, May 15, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
Standing Committee Teleconference Meeting, May 15, 2014, 7:00 p.m.
Communication Committee Meeting, May 24, 2014 TBD
Convention Arrangement Committee Meeting, May 31, 2014, 10:30 a.m.
St. Paul’s, Modesto,
Annual Convention, October 24-25, 2014, St. Paul’s, Modesto
Click on the link below to see more upcoming events and meetings around the diocese.
Meetings and Events
From Our Parishes and Missions…
May 16-17, 2014
Friday and Saturday
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Bakersfield
Join Bishop David Rice
for a Weekend with an Internationally Known Visionary,
Author, Lecturer, & Entrepreneur
Fr. Eric Law, Episcopal Priest
Friday, May 16
Check-in 4pm
Honor Bar w/donation
(wine and beer)
Dinner 5pm
Session I 9-11:30am
Program 6-8pm
Saturday, May 17th, 2014
Breakfast 8-9am
Session I 9-11:30am
Lunch 11:30-12:30
Session II 12:30-2:30
Break 2:30-2:45
Session III 3-5pm
Dinner 5-6pm
Session IV 6-7:30pm
Wine, Coffee, Dessert 7:45pm
Registration form online at www.stpaulsepiscopalbakersfield.org
Click here for flyer to post.
From St. Andrew’s, Taft
The Rev. Heather Mueller is planning to walk the laps for the Relay for Life, May 17-18, 2014 at Taft High School. Her walking of laps will be the first survivor’s lap and then she will walk for several hours in the evening until the lighting of the luminaria. If any of
you would like to have a luminaria dedicated to someone please email her at [email protected].
The Rev. Heather Mueller is a member of the Soroptimist Club who has organized a team of walkers. The money from their walk will be donated to the American Cancer Society.
If you would like to donate please make checks out to The American Cancer Society. Thank you.
From St. Anne’s, Stockton
The Daughters of the King at St. Anne’s Stockton will be holding a quiet day on May 17, 2014 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Leslie Sanchez will host the day at her home, 3441 Windham Circle, Stockton.
Sylvia Dobrow will guide our prayer and reflection. Sylvia has requested that we each bring a notebook and pen so we can use some of the quiet time for journaling, Bring a Bible and a candle. Also bring a small treasured object such as a rock from a special place, a picture or an icon, a special piece of jewelry, a favorite book, or whatever…. We invite Daughters from other churches and any women who may be interested. We do need to know if you are coming so Leslie and Sylvia know how many to expect.
Please RSVP to Juanita Weber at
[email protected]
For our Diocesan Prayer Calendar….click here
Bishop’s and Canon’s Visitations Calendars…
Bishop Rice’s Calendar – Click Here
Canon Cullinane’s Calendar- Click Here
Have you checked it out?
Keep up to date on news and events with our
Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin website
www.diosanjoaquin.org
“. . . for I was hungry,
