Special Convention 2014 Booklet

The Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan

Dreaming Togetherand seeking the will of God

Special ConventionNovember 1, 2014

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Grand Rapids, MI

Table of Contents

Message from the Bishop ................................................................................... 4

Agenda ................................................................................................................ 5

Episcopal Peace Fellowship ................................................................................. 6

United Thank Offering ......................................................................................... 7

El Corazón Latino Ministry Initiative ................................................................... 8

The Recovery Commission .................................................................................. 9

Mission Trip: Pine Ridge Indian Reservation ..................................................... 10

Mission Trip: New Orleans ................................................................................ 11

All Saints, Saugatuck – Retreat House .............................................................. 12

Reading Camps 2015 ......................................................................................... 12

Confirmation, Reception, Reaffirmation ........................................................... 13

Province V Information ..................................................................................... 14

Signs of a Call to the Diaconate ......................................................................... 15

Western Michigan Episcopal Cursillo ................................................................ 16

Who’s Who ........................................................................................................ 17

Upcoming Dates ........................................................................................... 18-19

St. Nicholas Day Celebration ............................................................................. 20

All of the articles in this booklet were submitted voluntarily and printed upon request; none of them were required by the diocese.

4 Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan

Hello Western Michigan! Thank you for making the trip to Grand Rapids for yet another “Special Convention,” the second one in consecutive years. I know how busy you all are so please know how much I appreciate your effort to be here. Your presence and participation are very important to me and to our purpose as a diocese.

The primary reason for this Special Convention is to review and approve an operating diocesan budget for 2015. A secondary purpose of this meeting is to place our diocesan con-vention annually on the first weekend of November moving forward. Shifting the timing of convention will improve our planning process by aligning the budget year with the calendar year. This simple move will clarify how effectively we are connecting our mission priorities to revenue and ex-penditures. The value of this move is pretty straight forward, it will improve our financial management, our audit accountability and our overall decision making and planning.

There are, however, some additional important advantages of making this move that are not so immediately obvious. First, moving convention will open up the coming calendar year allowing us to organize the year in more intentional and creative ways. Pulling convention out of the middle of the year opens up space to better plan and organize deanery meetings, Leadership Days and pre-convention meetings. It will create a natural flow

of conversa-tional gath-erings that lead up to the annual convention in November instead of being broken up by con-vention. Sec-ondly, better organized and directed diocesan meetings will likely strengthen our relationship while improving communication. Thirdly, as our conversations improve so will our ability to dream together seeking the will of God for us in our diocese. And finally, as we seek the will of God together, I believe we will be caught up in the movement of God – a holy movement where we find our most authentic selves in our service to others.

I so very much appreciate your energy and excitement, your hope and your faith. We are a blessed people, West-ern Michigan. We have much to cele-brate and for which to give thanks.

Thank you for being here today.

Peace,

IX Western Michigan

Agenda

8:00 – 10:00 a.m.

10:00 – 11:15 a.m.

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

12:30 – 1:30 p.m.

1:45 – 2:30 p.m.

2:30 – 2:45 p.m.

2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

4:30 p.m.

Registration

Opening Eucharist

Business Session

Lunch

Bishop’s Report and Program Updates

Break

Movie: Lost Boy Home with Q & A

Closing Prayer

Special Convention 2014 5

Episcopal Peace FellowshipThe Episcopal Peace Fellowship (EPF) is a national organization “connect-ing all who seek a deliberate response to injustice and violence and want to pray, study, and take action for justice and peace in our communities, our church, and our world.”

We work to create justice, dismantle violence, and we strive to be peace-makers. There are many chapters throughout the country. We are writ-ing as members of the EPF of Grace Episcopal Church in Traverse City. This group was formed in the 1970s, and continues today. We share the mission of the national EPF, and are working to build a culture of peace. We believe we are called to this work by our Baptismal vows.

Our local chapter works both inde-pendently on projects, and also co-ordinates with other peace groups in our area. Following are some of our projects that we would like to share with you:

1. Each year, since the beginning of the war in Iraq, we have held an annual interfaith prayer service in March. At that service, we com-memorate Michigan soldiers who lost their lives in war during the past year. People of different faith traditions offer prayers for peace.

2. This summer we wrote to the Traverse City Commissioners

asking them to ban the use of retail plastic bags. Plastic bags do

tremendous damage to our precious environ-ment that we are called to protect.3. We asked our church to renew its Peace Partner Congre-gation commitment this

year, which the Vestry did do. We hope this is now an annual com-mitment.

4. Last year, we offered a Koinonia study in our Parish titled “What Does the Bible Say about Peace and What Does That Mean for Us Today?”

5. We have advocated for a change in our gun laws that would help to decrease gun violence. We have posted safety information related to protecting children in the home from gun violence.

6. We participate in the annual Inter-national Day of Peace celebration in Traverse City.

7. We support Bread for the World by bringing their letter writing campaigns to our parish.

Contact the National EPF at [email protected]. Allison Lyles, Execu-tive Director.

Contact the EPF of Grace Episcopal Church at [email protected]. Bet-sy Davidson, Chair.

– Members of the EPF of Grace Epis-copal Church, Traverse City


United Thank Offering promotes a daily, personal practice of prayers of thanksgiving in response to God’s blessings, and encourages tan-gible, intentional, and daily offering in gratitude for those blessings.

Today, November 1, is All Saints Day. This weekend and the two surrounding Ascension are the tradi-tional weekends churches have United Thank Offer-ing ingatherings. Through September, Thank Offer-ings of $5,030.55 have been received from indi-viduals and congregations in the diocese. This includes Thank Offerings of $135 from the UTO boxes on your tables during our Di-ocesan convention earlier this year. As a result of this generous giving by you and countless other women, men and children, many have been helped throughout the world.

UTO grants are awarded to church-es and institutions throughout the Anglican Communion whose people are laboring diligently to bring about the fulfillment of God’s kingdom here on earth. St. John’s Episcopal Church, Grand Haven, earlier this year received an $11,500 United Thank Offering grant to assist in the formation of El Corazón, the Tri-cities area first Latino ministry that will be

fully integrative of the parish life.

Now is the time for congregations who are considering applying for a United Thank Offering grant to start the application process.

Go to unitedthankoffering.org for information on 2015 Grant Focus and Criteria. The dead-line shown on the website for

submitting a grant application to the diocese is January 15, 2015; however, I strongly encourage you to be contact me when you began to work on the application, preferably before the end of this year.

Only one application can be submit-ted from the diocese so it is im-portant that the diocesan screening committee has sufficient time to thoroughly review all applications submitted.

Please feel free to contact me with any question you have about the United Thank Offering.

Gail [email protected](show UTO in the subject line)(517) 230-0879

United Thank Offering


El Corazón Latino Ministry Initiative

Many times Anglo churches that begin Latino ministry do it with one of the following foci: either looking at it solely as a financial outreach ministry (how can we help them), or creating a worshipping congregation that re-mains distinct from the Anglo congre-gation (allowing them to worship in our space). Both indicate the common patrón tendencies of Anglo attempts at Latino ministry. Aware of these pitfalls, our approach is different.

From the very start, our project will be fully integrated with our congre-gation’s ministry. Rather than simply creating a Spanish-language ser-vice, our first step will be the calling together of a group of lay people in-terested in being a part of El Corazón. The abovementioned Strategic Vision indicates that “clergy-driven ministry” is a common weakness of attempts at Latino engagement, that is why this lay group will be trained and formed to be the fundamental leaders of the ministry.

They will begin gathering weekly for classes in conversational Spanish and Latino culture. During this time, they will build relationships among one another and seek to overcome stereo-types and implicit biases. This group will also brainstorm and put into place ministries to reach out to the Latino population, for example, free trans-lation services, or offering our Parish Hall as a venue for Quinceaneras.

They will also be trained and sent out to begin forming relationships and friendships with Latino people living in Northwest Ottawa County.

Concurrently, our rector will be pur-suing his own work to move from his current conversant Spanish to fluency, joining with the El Corazón group regularly but not always, helping lead them but also encouraging them to raise up their own lay leadership from within. He will also begin finding other ways to make himself available to the Latino community, for example, reaching out to funeral homes and letting them know of his willingness to do Spanish-language funerals for families in need.

In the second stage, we will use what we have learned to begin to lay the groundwork for a Spanish-language service. We will have a parish-wide workshop on Latino ministry, orga-nized by El Corazón and led by an outside consultant. We will find out from those we have gotten to know what that service should look like, when should it be, what music should be offered, what style would enable the greatest spiritual nourishment. We will then begin reaching out to the area with specific invitations to join this service, once a start date has been set.

As we gain in Latino members, we will intentionally work to integrate all

8 Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigancontinued on next page

In June, the United Thank Offering of the Episcopal Church awarded $11,500 to St. John’s in Grand Haven for their Latino ministry program El Corazón.

aspects of our parish life—including changing our parish life so that it is reflective of a truly diverse mem-bership. To wit, rather than simply helping them or inviting them to worship in our space, we will seek for both groups to become something new and united. As the ministry

grows, we anticipate eventually the hiring of an Associate Rector, perhaps a Latina or Latino, certainly one fluent in Spanish. However, that person will not be in charge of Latino ministry—that will remain a shared ministry of the Rector and Associate.

The Recovery Commission of the Diocese of Western Michigan exists to educate and help those who need information about addictions and those who are caught in the web of this baffling and deadly disease.

Although there are a wide variety of addictive substances, the World Health Organization ranks alcohol addiction/dependence as the leading risk factor for death among males age 15-59 worldwide. A staggering 2.5 million people in the world die from alcohol-related causes each year and alcohol consumption is linked to over 60 different diseases. Sadly, the young are particularly vulnerable and women sustain early and widespread damage to their bodies in comparison to men.

The Episcopal Church has been the brunt of many alcohol related jokes (“Where there are four Episcopalians, there’s a fifth,” or “Tip little, tipple a lot”) which may be funny but reveal the presence of an alcohol-saturated culture. A colleague on the national board of the Recovery Ministry of the Episcopal Church shared a remark

made to him by a bishop. The bishop accused him of finding “an alcoholic under every rock” to which my friend replied “Because there is!” Given the tragedy of lives lost to addiction, noth-ing is gained by denying this reality. It truly is a matter of life or death.

We are in the process of reforming our local commission and stand ready to help any and all who have a friend or loved one who needs help to reclaim their lives. Please see the website of the Recovery Ministry of the Episcopal Church – episcopalrecovery.org – for further valuable information. We are pleased to say that Bishop Whayne Hougland has agreed to serve as an ex officio member of the commission. If you would like to speak with some-one, please contact the Rev. Michael Ryan at Epiphany Church, South Haven [email protected], the Rev. Carl-ton Kelley at St. Paul’s, Dowagiac [email protected] or the Rev. Pam Sten at Trinity Church, Niles [email protected]. Our other members will be announced at a later date. Please keep us in your prayers and pray for those who need release from addiction.

The Recovery Commission


El Corazón, continued

On the mission trip to Pine Ridge we stay and work with the Re-Member organization. Re-Member “seeks to improve the quality of life through relationships, shared resources and volunteer services.” The Oglala Lakota people reside on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The counties of Pine Ridge are the third poorest in the nation per the 2000 census. They were the poorest, but other reserva-tions in South Dakota have become worse The 28,000-38,000 people on the reservation live with 80-90% unemployment, a per capita income of $4,000, a teen suicide rate up to 4x the national average, 8x the national rate of diabetes, and a life expectancy that is the lowest in the nation. All of these things contribute to a great need. That is why Re-Member is there and why we go.

The greatest requests for help are for bunkbeds and outhouses. Bunkbeds are needed as many people live in one house - perhaps up to 20 in a two bedroom mobile home! Outhouses are needed as many people do not have running water. So, we make bunkbeds and deliver them with a mattress, sheets, blankets and a new book, build outhouses and deliver them and dig the hole, skirt mobile

homes (to insulate), build wheelchair ramps, clean up pow-wow grounds, roof houses, garden, etc.

In addition, there is an emphasis on cultural education. There are speak-ers every evening who share their life stories and the Lakota culture. We also visit the Badlands and Wounded Knee on Sunday, and then have a tour of some highlights of the reservation later in the week.

While at Re-Member, we stay in a large building with sleeping quarters for women on one side, and men on the other side. You get to experience bunkbeds again, just like at camp. All meals are eaten together.

Traveling to Pine Ridge Indian Res-ervation in South Dakota requires a two-day trip. We usually travel to Sioux City, Iowa the first day, and then continue to Pine Ridge the next. We travel by private car and carpool when we can.

You will always remember your time in Pine Ridge, and the people you meet. They are so happy for us to be there. Seeing the kids’ faces when we come with a bed for them is priceless. This may be the first time that they have not had to sleep on the floor.

You also realize how much work needs to be done to make amends for what our country has done.

The 2015 trip will be June 26th – July 3rd (and then travel home).

Mission Trip: Pine Ridge Indian Reservation


EDWM Mission Trip to New Orleans, Louisiana Fall of 2015, date still to be announced. Registration fee will be $200 per participant with that money used to help defer the cost of the trip.

What is the objective of this trip?To show the love of Christ through action by helping with the restoration of homes in New Orleans, so that fam-ilies might return to their dwellings, as well as, the restoration of green space in the city.

Why New Orleans?One in five homes in New Orleans is still blighted eight years after Katrina. A few years ago New Orleans had the highest rate of abandoned homes in the country, but due to the dedication and hard work of countless individ-uals, this is no longer true. However, there is still a ton of work to do, and with your help, we can continue to make this city great.

Where will the missioners be staying and how will they be getting there? It is a two-day trip by car to The Big Easy, so an overnight stay along the way is necessary, as well as, upon the return trip home. Following arrival in New Orleans, our group will be staying at the Annunciation Mission facility sponsored by Annunciation Episcopal Church. Most weekday meals and lodging are provided at the mission during our stay there. The mission is attached to the church, and we will be welcome to participate in the worship services there.

What kind of jobs are there? We are planning to do construction

work with the Project Homecoming Organization, which has been serving the NOLA area since 2007. Project Homecoming work helps families return home and revitalize the neigh-borhoods that make New Orleans such a special place

We are also planning to work with Connie Uddo, Director of the Home-coming Center, participating in the Hike for KaTREEna Project. New Or-leans suffered many losses in Katrina and its aftermath. One of the major casualties was the city’s trees. Hike for KaTREEna is still planting… and still raising money to replace the tens of thousands of trees still sorely missed in New Orleans. Become a New Orleans volunteer and join our efforts toward the restoration and beautifica-tion of this wonderful community!

Why does this trip make a difference? In the book of Acts we read, “In all things I have shown you that by work-ing hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Many of the people in New Orleans are unable to do the restoration work due to age, physical problems, etc. and are so very appreciative of what is done for them. But most parishioners who have participated in a mission trip will agree that they recived much more in return than they gave.

“When you help someone up a hill, you get theat much closer to the top yourself.” submitted to Guidepost by Susan J. DeCuir Carrollton, Texas.

Mission Trip: New Orleans


All Saints’ Episcopal Church of Sau-gatuck has been offering its former rectory, now the Saugatuck Retreat House, as a place for church group planning meetings, spiritual retreats,

or simply a group ‘get away’ to the Saugatuck-Douglas area. In short, it is for almost any “group with a purpose.” The fully furnished house accommodates 11 over-night guests in 5 bedrooms and two full baths. There is a large kitchen and breakfast area, a large dining room where all the guests can share meals together, and two large rooms for meetings. Making reser-vations well in advance is essential

during the summer months.

Please contact All Saints’ Episcopal Church at (269) 857 5201 for further information and reservations.

All Saints, Saugatuck – Retreat House

Reading Camp Inventory MeetingMarch 14, 2015 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.St. Andrews, Grand Rapids

Reading Camp TrainingMay 2, 2015 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. St. Andrew’s, Grand Rapids, MI

Albion Reading CampJune 22 - 26, 2015 Beulah Reading Camp St. Phillips, Beulah July 13 - 17, 2015

Kalamazoo Reading CampSt. Martin of Tours, KalamazooAugust 3 - 7, 2015

Reading Camps 2015


Confirmation in the EDWM

Baptism is full initiation into the Chris-tian church. Every baptized Christian of every age in the Episcopal Church is welcome to receive communion and be a full member of the body of Christ. At the same time, as one grows in Christ, our Church also expects that those who have been baptized will make a mature reaffirmation of their baptismal vows and receive the laying of hands by a bishop to strengthen them in their journey as baptized Christians.

Now in our diocese, the preparation for this Reaffirmation of Baptismal Vows takes place in local parishes through a fourteen week process of exploration, conversation, and study.

The Rites of Reaffirmation (e.g. Confirmation, Reception, etc.) are celebrated regionally on the four Baptismal Feast Days (Baptism of Our Lord, the Great Vigil of Easter, the Vigil of Pentecost, and the celebration of All Saints’).

Anyone interested in being confirmed, received or reaffirmed will want to speak with the clergy person in his/her local congregation to find out which liturgy your parish will be par-ticipating in. The process of prepara-tion begins roughly fourteen weeks before that liturgy. The full process, including teaching notes for clergy, handouts for participants, and your parish liturgies, is available on the EDWM website confirmation page: edwm.org/confirmation.html.

During 2015, the dates and locations for our Diocesan observances of the four Baptismal Days are listed below, along with the estimated times at which the local process might begin. These are the liturgies at which can-didates who have gone through the process of preparation may be con-firmed, received, or may otherwise reaffirm their baptismal vows. The clergy person at your parish can tell you more about which date (or dates) your parish will be participating in and what preparation will look like for you on a local context, including your local preparation’s start date.

Saturday, January 10, 2015, Eve of the Baptism of Our Lord, St. Thomas, Battle Creek.

Saturday, April 4, 2015, The Great Vig-il of Easter, St. John’s, Grand Haven, local process should begin sometime around the First Sunday after Christ-mas (December 27, 2014).

Saturday, May 30, 2015, Octave of Pentecost, St. Mary’s Cadillac, local process should begin sometime around the Last Sunday after the Epiphany (February 15, 2015).

Friday, November 6, 2015, Diocesan Convention, Observance of All Saints, St. Mark’s, Grand Rapids, local process should begin sometime around Proper 12 (July 26, 2015).


The Diocese of Western Michigan is one of the 14 dioceses of Province V in the Episcopal Church. Dioceses in the states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and the eastern side of Missouri are called The Province of the Midwest with the thought that they would understand each others' ministry context and be able to work collaboratively to spread the gospel. Every three years each dio-cese sends bishops and delegates to the Provincial Synod where ministry matters are explored and a budget is set for the Province. In addition,

each diocese has a representative to the Executive Board of the Province

which executes business between Synods.

In a nutshell the prov-ince is focused on “what we can do better togeth-er than we can do sepa-rately.” To foster this col-laborative atmosphere Province V offers grants to ministries which join forces across diocesan lines and which seek to

carry out the Anglican Communion's Five Marks of Mission and address Ministry interests of the dioceses. You can learn more about Province V, the Province of the Midwest, on our website www.provincev.org.

Greetings from Province V

2015 Province V Grants The process and forms for the 2015 Province V Grants have been posted to our website, www.provincev.org/grants/forms/

The Province V Executive Board con-tinues to be inspired and encouraged by the many wonderful ministries happening in our provincial dioces-es! The primary purpose of Province V is to support relationships which facilitate dioceses’ ability to collab-orate together in ministry, whether it is in common projects or through the sharing of resources, assets, and experience. Collaborative ministry is already happening throughout our Province, which is exciting and offers

us new opportunities to do ministry together. In an effort to build and support these joint ventures within our province, the Province V Executive Board annual-ly offers grants to support ministry initiatives that involve local dioce-san ministries working together in a single common cause or mutually supporting one another in ways that strengthen their ministry within their own diocese. Specifically, Province V will award grants for collaborative ministries involving two or more dioceses (at least one of which is in Province V).


Signs of a Call to the DiaconateThrough their ordination vows, deacons place themselves under orders to follow Jesus and to be obedient to the bishop, who gives them the mandate to encour-age, support, and develop servant ministry in this diocese.

Three Aspects of CallA deacon has the ability to articulate the proclamation of servant in the Gospel and has leadership skills and the willingness to lead others into ser-vant ministry. Deacons are not simply those who exercise servant ministry as baptized Christians. Rather, deacons are those who call and empower the laity to exercise servant ministry.

A deacon has the courage to be a pro-phetic voice to the Church concerning the needs of the powerless and voice-less in the community. She or he has the mental ability and competence for ordained ministry, and under-stands that the diaconate is a life-long discernment of ministry. This process involves continuous prayer, openness to change, willingness to study, and the active quest for personal growth.

The diaconate is a distinct order and is not a stepping-stone to the priest-hood. Likewise, the diaconate is not to be seen as a reward for faithful service as a reader, Eucharistic minister, war-den or member of the vestry. Nor is it to be seen as a reward for a pre-exist-ing servant ministry.

The individual aspiring to the Sacred Order of Deacons must clearly articu-late and demonstrate that he or she is called to the order of ministry which is

integral to the church leading the laity into lives of servant ministry, diakonia.

NOTE: The ministry of a deacon is a ministry served under the Bishop on behalf of the Church in Western Michigan. Though a local context can provide fertile ground for a sense of call to ministry, ordination is rarely, if ever, to a specific location. One is ordained for the whole church. Thus, though the Customary does allow for the possibility of a Deacon continu-ing to serve in the parish where the Deacon was raised up for ordination, a true sense of call to the Sacred Order of Deacons must also involve a willingness to serve elsewhere in the Diocese, with the strengthening of the total ministry of the church being the focus and goal.

If you think you may have a call to the Diaconate, contact your local parish leadership about initiating a discern-ment process. You can also contact the chair of the Commission on Minis-try, the Very Rev. Jared C. Cramer, with any questions at [email protected].



You may have heard about it but do you really know what Cursillo is? Every person who has experienced a Cursillo weekend has their own way of describing Cursillo. Our website explains that it is a movement within the Episcopal Church that is com-mitted to growing Christ-centered lead-ers by supporting and encouraging prayer, study and action. We seek to fulfill the mis-sion of the Episcopal Church: “to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.”

Our WMEC Cursillo community has over 1,500 members, including both laity and clergy, however, the move-ment is led by the laity with spiritual

direction from the clergy. In this way, we all work together to strengthen the Church’s leaders and work to fulfill the mission of the Church as we are

each called to use the gifts of the Holy Spirit. If you would like representatives from this community to do a presenta-tion for your parish, please contact us. We encourage you to stop by our table today for more infor-mation. Check out

our website at WMEC.net. Be all that you can be, do all that you can do for Christ, Christ is counting on YOU!

To get involved, contact Colin Crutten-den, President of WMEC, (269) 948-8437, [email protected].

Western Michigan Episcopal Cursillo“But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. And His gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for build-ing up the body of Christ.” Ephesians 4:7, 11-12

What is Cursillo?

V An opportunity to grow in faith and in spiritualityV A deeper understanding of the teachings of Jesus and how we can serve

Him.VAn experience of living and sharing with others in a loving and caring

Christian community and realizing that this can be extended into our own environment

VA continuing community that gives support and encouragement to help Christians carry out their Baptismal Vows.

Who’s Who

Chancellor & Credentials Chairperson . . . . . .Bill Fleener, Jr., St. David’s, Lansing

Constitution/Canons Chairperson . . . . . . . . . Bill Fleener, Jr., St. David’s, Lansing

Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ivan Egnatuck, Trinity, Marshall

Parliamentarian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bill Fleener, Jr., St. David’s, Lansing

Dispatch of Business . . Musette El Mohammed, St. Martin of Tours, Kalamazoo

Nominations/Elections Chairperson . . . . . . . . . Mike Paulin, St. Mary’s, Cadillac

Resolutions Chairperson . . . . . . . . . . . Wayne Nicholson, St. John’s, Mt. Pleasant

Registration Chairperson . . . . . . . . Jane Puvogel, St. Martin of Tours, Kalamazoo Assistant to Registration Chair . . . . . Bill Hanson, St. Martin of Tours, Kalamazoo

Diocesan StaffThe Rt. Rev. Whayne M. Hougland, Jr., Bishop

The Rev. Canon William Spaid, Canon to the Ordinary

Molly Ettwein, Bishop’s Executive Assistant

Genevieve Callard , Assistant to the Bishop for Children, Youthand Young Adult Ministries

Tammy Mazure, CPA, Assistant to the Bishop for Financeand Benefit Administration

Catherine Rhodes, Finance Assistant

Kay Hanson, Volunteer Extraordinaire

Karmel Puzzuoli, Communications Assistant

Kyle Bos, Young Adult Missioner, Grand Rapids


Upcoming Dates in the Diocese

2014The Ordinations of Christian Baron and Jodi BaronDecember 20, 2014Grace Episcopal Church, Holland

2015Confirmation - Eve of the Baptism of our LordJanuary 10, 2015 – St. Thomas, Battle Creek

Formation & Education Ministries Brownbag LuncheonDiscussion: New confirmation proceduresJanuary 20, 2015

Formation & Education Supplies Swap-MeetJanuary 30, 2015

High School Youth OvernightFebruary 21-22, 2015 – Grace Church, Holland

Mission Trip: Church of San Simón, Dominican RepublicFebruary 28 – March 7, 2015 – San Marcos, D.R. Leadership Day – Traverse CityMarch 7, 2015 – Grace Church, Traverse City

Leadership Day – Grand RapidsMarch 28, 2015 – St. Mark’s, Grand Rapids

Confirmation - The Great Vigil of EasterApril 4, 2015 - St. John’s , Grand Haven

Leadership Day – KalamazooApril 11, 2015 – St. Luke’s, Kalamazoo

Province V SynodApril 17-18, 2015 – Chicago, IL


Education for Ministry (EfM) Worship ServiceApril 25, 2015 – St. Mark’s, Grand Rapids

Episcopal Church Women (ECW) Annual MeetingMay 2, 2015 – St. Peter’s-by-the-Lake, Montague

General Convention Orientation Workshop WebcastMay 30, 2015

Confirmation - Octave of PentecostMay 30, 2015 – St. Mary’s Church, Cadillac

The General Convention of the Episcopal ChurchJune 25 – July 3, 2015 – Salt Lake City, UT

Mission Trip: Church of San Simón, Dominican RepublicJuly 12-19, 2015 – San Marcos, D.R.Dedication of the Church of San Simón, July 18, 2015

Combined Deanery Pre-Convention MeetingSt. Joseph & EasternSeptember 26, 2015

Combined Deanery Pre-Convention MeetingLakeshore & Grand ValleyOctober 3, 2015

Traverse Deanery Pre-Convention MeetingOctober 17, 2015

141st EDWM ConventionConfirmation – All Saints November 6 -7, 2015 – Grand Rapids Airport Hilton

2016142nd EDWM ConventionNovember 4-5, 2016 – McCamly Plaza, Battle Creek

2017143rd EDWM ConventionNovember 3-4, 2017 – Radisson Plaza, Kalamazoo


Join us for St. Nicholas Day!December 6th, St. Luke’s, Kalamazoo

Go to edwm.org/news_and_events.html to register for this event, or contact Gennie Callard, Assistant to the Bishop for Children, Youth and Young Adult Ministries, at [email protected] or (269) 381-2710, ext. 13.

Celebrate the joy of the season!

• Activities,funandgamesforall

ages

• Lunchprovided.

• Celebratory,kid-friendly

Eucharist.

• VisitfromSt.Nicholas!

Please bring a book! Book donations will be collected for the summer reading camps offered in the dio-cese. Please bring a new or gently used copy of your favorite childhood book to give to the program. Due to generous donations, there will be no

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Special Convention 2014 Booklet

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