Diocesan Digest
Episcopal News Service. October 13, 2005 [101305-2-A]
* OLYMPIA: Small church contributes to Katrina relief
* ARIZONA: Charred cathedral rises from the ashes
* NEVADA: Diocese welcomes Executive Council
* FOND DU LAC: Episcopal Diocese offices to move to Appleton
OLYMPIA: Small church contributes to Katrina relief
[SOURCE: Diocese of Olympia] St. Columba's Episcopal Church in Kent continues to offer assistance to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The congregation has sent donations of more than $2,000 to Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), and on October 7, at their Blessing of the Animals service, took a second collection. A parish family is now considering adopting a cat abandoned by the aftermath of the hurricane.
ARIZONA: Charred cathedral rises from the ashes
by Lindsey Collom
[SOURCE: The Arizona Republic] Three years to the day after Trinity Cathedral was charred in a fire, congregants were celebrating its rise from ruin.
Several hundred people gathered Sunday in central Phoenix to rededicate the 82-year-old church, the cornerstone of the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona and a source of outreach to the downtown population.
"Through the years, the cathedral has always continued to be a sign of hope," the Rev. Rebecca McClain, former dean of Trinity Cathedral [currently executive director of the Church Deployment Office at the Episcopal Church Center], told the assembly. "Even through some very difficult times, we have been people of the resurrection. It was not a reach for us three years ago to proclaim: Out of the ashes, we shall rise."
But at the time of the blaze, the despair was palpable. It was shortly after 5 p.m. on Oct. 9, 2002, when flames and smoke began to fill the sanctuary. Those inside fled to safety and watched helplessly as their church burned.
Longtime church member Deborah Beresford of Phoenix saw it on the evening newscast.
"I was just horrified, dumbfounded," Beresford said, her eyes moistened by the memory. "It was a very sad day."
Full story available at: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1010cathedral10.html
NEVADA: Diocese welcomes Executive Council
[SOURCE: ENS] The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church received a warm welcome from the Diocese of Nevada as the council gathered in Las Vegas for its fall meeting October 7-10.
The council meeting coincided with the diocese's annual convention. The centennial convention, chaired by Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, met in Sparks, just east of Reno, over the weekend. Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold flew from Las Vegas to Reno to preach at the convention's Eucharist on October 9. St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Sparks co-hosted the meeting of the diocese’s 37 parishes.
Meanwhile, the council worshiped at Christ Church in Las Vegas. Bishop Suffragan Catherine Roskam of New York presided and the Very Rev. George Werner, president of the House of Deputies, preached.
Jefferts Schori and the other members of Nevada's General Convention deputation then flew to Las Vegas later October 9 to join the council for dinner.
The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church is an elected body representing the whole Church. In the course of the three years between conventions, known as the "triennium," the Executive Council will customarily meet once in each of the nine provinces of the Episcopal Church.
The Executive Council has the duty to carry out programs and policies adopted by General Convention. It is the job of Executive Council to oversee the ministry and mission of the Church. The Executive Council is comprised of twenty members elected by General Convention (four bishops, four priests or deacons and twelve laypersons),eighteen members elected by provincial synods and five officers with seat and voice, two of whom have vote and preside.
FOND DU LAC: Episcopal Diocese offices to move to Appleton
Fond du Lac building might be sold for school rooms, archives
by Jean Peerenboom
[Source: Green Bay Press Gazette] The Episcopal Diocese of Fond du Lac will move its diocesan office center from Fond du Lac to Appleton by the end of the year, according to diocesan officials.
The Office Move Task Force made the recommendation and the diocesan Executive Council agreed to lease property for three years. Bishop Russell Jacobus would purchase his home and receive a housing allowance.
Pending plans for the current office building, Grafton Hall, is that it will be sold on land contract to the cathedral for use as Sunday school rooms and the diocesan archives.
The move was precipitated by several factors, including the desire to be more centrally located and to lessen the amount of travel time for the bishop.
Full story available at: http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/news/archive/local_22900828.shtml