The Episcopal Church in Western Washington
Greetings, Diocese of Olympia and all who may be watching. Advent and a new church year is upon us. It’s always hard to believe for me that it rolls around so quickly. Over our years together, I’ve told you how much I love Advent, because a year starts, but also I’m kind of disappointed when it comes that we don’t often celebrate it in a way I believe it was designed. I don’t believe it’s a mini-Lent. It’s not designed
Image by https://www.cop27.eg/assets/img/cop27-logo.svg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72213177 Our very own Missioner for Climate Care and Climate Justice, John Kydd, is part of The Episcopal Church’s delegation to the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (more commonly known as COP27) in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt this year. You can find John’s reflections, prayers, and updates at the links below.
From The Rev. Dr. Dennis S. Tierney, Diocesan Property Manager: Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash In the 1960 musical comedy, The Fantasticks, the opening song is entitled, “Try to Remember.” It is a song about nostalgia and remembering. It was made famous by the Brothers Four and other popular singers. The third verse says this: “Deep in December, it’s nice to remember the fire of September that made us mellow, Deep in December our hearts should remember and follow,
Thanks to all who contributed to and participated in our Creation Care themed Convention. How energizing it was to recount, celebrate, and look forward to more of this important work in the diocese and larger tradition! Here are a few follow-up announcements: Creation Care Formation Study: Stay tuned in 2023! While we had originally planned on a November start date, there are some potentially exciting developments that have pushed our timeline back a bit. Communications: Let us know about the best
Image by https://www.cop27.eg/assets/img/cop27-logo.svg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72213177 Doing work within the UN network is inspiring and daunting. Inspiring to see so many people work so hard to forge astonishing compromises like the Paris Accords and daunting to fathom the terminology, the alphabet soup of acronyms, and the failures to face fundamental issues. To say anything definitive about the UN process normally requires a few dozen numerical references. Here we will be practical and informal. The UNFCC This is the UN Framework
It is a time of transition within our diocese, and we have new a clergy transition to announce. The Rev. Rachel Endicott has accepted a call as interim rector of St. Andrew’s, Seattle. Rachel was born in the U.K. to a priest father and musician/teacher mother. After receiving a BA in Psychology from Scripps College and an MBA from National University, Rachel worked doing market research in the medical device market and provided community education and administration in the not-for-profit
From John Kydd, Missioner for Climate Care and Climate Justice: It’s about 6 am and the call to prayer (adhan meaning “to listen”) rolls gently past my patio headed for the Red Sea. The singer (muezzin) has a wonderful voice, deep and marbled with feeling. And then a second female sounding voice steps in. No duet, just the adhan through a different register. The first call is to come to prayer (Hayya alas salah) and the singer lingers lovingly on
From the Rev. Sarah (Cedar) Monroe: As many of you all have already heard, I am leaving Chaplains on the Harbor after nine years of ministry. I wanted to take a moment to, first, thank each of you: churches, individuals, and the diocese, for your amazing support of this work over the years. As we pastored people experiencing homelessness, incarceration, and addiction in Grays Harbor County, you all walked with us and supported us in so many ways. As we
From Don Fornoff, Task Force on Homelessness Member: Dear Ones, In 2019 the Task Force Presented at Convention some thoughts and facts about the homelessness situation in Washington state. None of the facts surrounding the unhoused have changed. A homeless person has a name but no permanent residence. Think about that. John Smith of XYZ, WA can conduct his life safely and securely. John Smith of _____ WA has no place to relate to, and personal business is harder to
“Monetizing Church Property: Some Guiding Principles” Occasional Paper on Property Management in the Diocese of Olympia Series The Rev. Dr. Dennis S. Tierney Property Manager Monetizing church property seems to be a “hot idea” these days as congregations seek to off-set rising costs and flat or declining pledge bases. Mostly, the idea revolves around using the land that churches own in different ways to create an income stream for the congregation. While care must be taken to avoid loss of
Image by https://www.cop27.eg/assets/img/cop27-logo.svg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72213177 Our Missioner for Climate Care and Climate Justice, John Kydd, is part of The Episcopal Church’s delegation to COP27. After a day of listening to world leaders discuss ways to finance solutions to the climate change crisis, John wrote this prayer that he shares with our diocese: Lord help me loosen the fictions that we live That Nature is a Resource, not a Nation of Relation worthy of love and respect That wealth is