The Episcopal Church in Western Washington
With our churches closed and many of us sheltered at home, many are staying connected through Zoom, a videoconferencing platform. At the diocesan level, we have been using Zoom for over two years. Through all of this we have compiled a list of best practices and settings to help make your Zoom meetings and webinars a success. Basic Definitions A Zoom meeting is a Zoom event where one person hosts and all other participants have equal footing. All participants can
From Sue Tait, Diocesan Librarian: Question: Pentecost is coming on May 31st and of course we are providing what we can online now, or not at all. Do you have any ideas of how I should proceed? I know you are not sending books out yet. Sue Says: There are some specific helps for people presenting Sunday School online. As you know, we’ve been saying to each other for some time that faith begins and is primarily nourished in the
From the Rev. Jonathan Weldon of St. Paul, Bellingham: Light Shines in the Darkness At Morning Prayer today, we again prayed: “Arise, shine, for your light has come,” and affirmed that “in the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.” I set out to write this reflection by revisiting these words shared with me by a member of St. Paul’s
Updated Thursday, June 18: VIEW OR DOWNLOAD THE DOCUMENT VIEW OR DOWNLOAD THE DIOCESE OF OLYMPIA’S PHASE-IN CHART RELIGIOUS AND FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS COVID-19 REQUIREMENTS – GOVERNOR’S OFFICE (Updated Thursday, June 18) FAQ FOR RELIGIOUS AND FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS – KING COUNTY To the Good People of God in the Diocese of Olympia, We live in interesting times. That might be one of the greatest understatements I have heard lately, but no doubt it is true. These have been especially interesting days for
<span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”></span>&amp;lt;span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;The Diocese of Olympia is pleased to present faith formation educator and resource, Sharon Ely Pearson. This online workshop and follow-up Q&A on: “Texting God: The Spirituality of Youth” was originally held on April 29. Sharon says, “The Millennial Generation (born between 1980-2001) and the New Silent Generation (2001-2020) are the youth and children of today. They are connected to
From Alan Wheaton and Phil Hodgins, Street Chaplains at Christ Church, Seattle: A cigarette, a lighter, a pair of socks, a bottle of water, a couple of wet wipes, instant breakfast, granola bars, and vitamin C: These are just a few of the things our community members living without shelter said they could use when we asked them at the outset of Street Chaplaincy back in 2018, and today they form the contents of each of the 40 care packages
<span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”></span>The Diocese of Olympia is pleased to offer a little shelter-at-home continuing education with faith formation educator, Sharon Ely Pearson. This lecture and follow-up conversation on “Children’s Presence in Worship: Full Participation or Brief Appearance?” was originally held on Wednesday, April 22. Sharon says: “In these times of declining church membership, mainline congregations put considerable weight on the presence of children as an indicator of congregational vitality. But how do
From Aemelia Tripp, Member of the Seattle Service Corps: Quarantining in Community: Thoughts from a Seattle Service Corps Member Living with five other people, you might think this quarantine situation would be less of a burden. Or maybe you’re an introvert thinking being stuck with this many people at once is your waking nightmare. For this ambivert, it’s been a time of both solitary reflection and togetherness, searching for grounding in this unusual time. Let me give you a little
From the Rev. Sarah Monroe, Chaplains on the Harbor: Hope Beyond Hope Five years ago, I went to the Holy Land with the Bishop. We visited Bethlehem and we spent some time at the wall dividing Israel and Palestine. I snapped a picture of a spray painted message; in black paint, the scrawled words said “hope beyond hope.” Surrounded by a community, in that moment, that was reckoning with incredibly high poverty and unemployment and unrelenting dehumanization and military occupation,
From Sue Tait, Diocesan Librarian: Question: It is hard to know even what to ask about the future and what might be needed. Do you have any materials? Sue says: There are wonderful Faith Formation links available on our diocesan website. Click here and scroll down to the Faith Formation section. New articles and suggestions are frequently added to the Building Faith website from the Virginia Theological Seminary. For instance, they present a Lifelong Learning monthly webinar, and the topic on May 21 addresses