news

Yesterday the Pew Research Center released a study showing the number of Americans self-identifying themselves as Christian to decrease and an increase in the none group. This is of no surprise to us in the Diocese of Olympia. The Rev Alissa Newton has shared her thoughts on the study on our blog, and Bishop Rickel wrote The “Good News” of Decline on his blog.

St. Stephen’s, Oak Harbor is celebrating a new beginning! After a seven-year covenant due to a property dispute, negotiations resulted in the loss their cross and baptismal font. We are asking for Gifts of Thanksgiving to help the church raise funds needed to replace these items. View Bishop Rickel’s video as he talks about the new beginning and where pictures of the proposed cross and baptismal font are shown. You may also go directly to the donation page. Thank you!

Support our Episcopal Community Action ministries by rallying your friends to give early and give often online at the Seattle Foundation’s giveBIG event today. All day you can watch your gift grow because the donations you make to our Episcopal Community Action (ECA) ministries through our page on The Seattle Foundation’s website today will be stretched further thanks to the Seattle Foundation and generous giveBIG sponsors, who will match a share of every contribution. Last year nearly 30 ministries received

We’ve discovered that there are many talented photographers in the area, which made judging the Holy Week Photo Contest very difficult. Congratulations goes to Jason Anderson from St Michael’s, Issaquah for his Palm Sunday photo, and the Church of the Redeemer, Kenmore for their Maundy Thursday photo. Thank you to all the entrants. The judging had so many ties, we went to three rounds of voting! A final adjudicator came in from the Faith Formation department because Communications couldn’t decide.

Episcopal Relief & Development (ERD) is working with the ecumenical ACT Alliance in Nepal and local partners in northern India and southwest China regarding urgent needs and assessment efforts following the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck near Kathmandu on the morning of April 25 and subsequent quake on May 12. An April 27

For the past year and a half, Chaplains on the Harbor, has ministered on the streets of Aberdeen. The Rev Sarah Monroe began this ministry walking the streets with a backpack of sandwiches, building relationships on the streets and in homeless camps. Over the past week, the largest of these semi-permanent camps along the Chehalis River running through town – in the ruins of old mills and pilings – has been issued eviction notices. People had been given until March

A delegation from the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Philippines (EDSP) is currently touring our Diocese. The visit is part of our joint program “Caring for All Creation,” and our carbon offset program. On Monday, they toured Pike Place Market to discover the locally grown produce, and were invited to ring the bell to open the market. Further activities are open to all and are in the link below. If you are interested in global mission and the challenges of climate

Entries close Sunday – Want to see your photo on our facebook page? Or maybe on the welcome screen at Office of the Bishop (D-house)? Holy Week is fast approaching and that means a new photography contest. Photos can represent any aspect of Holy Week – be creative. The best landscape-oriented photo will be featured on our Facebook page for two weeks. The best portrait-oriented photo will be on our welcome screen at Office of the Bishop (D-house). Entries are

YOUR international aid organization, Episcopal Relief & Development, is celebrating 75 years of healing a hurting world and our diocese is joining the party with our 75th Anniversary Campaign. As unveiled at our Diocesan Convention, the 75th Anniversary Campaign is part celebration, part awareness-raising, and part fundraising. Celebration – A cornerstone of this 75th anniversary is a travelling photo exhibition that includes 33 iconic images and their backstory; the story of how Episcopal Relief & Development has helped “…the least