During this time of remote gathering, the Diocese of Olympia has been holding a series of webinars on a wide range of topics, including stewardship, faith formation, and specific topics related to regathering once our buildings open once again. Here you can find an archive of our past webinars, grouped by topic, if you would like to revisit the material, or if you missed the webinar the first time around.
ReGathering Webinars
Soon it will be time to re-open church. This webinar offers a discussion of some of the practical points for a church to consider once the decision is made to resume in-person worship services. We review the guidance, resources and tools provided by the CDC and local health departments on prevention and support. The presentations include legal and medical information and considerations as well as suggested protocols.
Presenters: Judith Andrew, Attorney and Chancellor of the Diocese; Bryan Krislock, Attorney, Vice Chancellor of the Diocese; The Very Rev. Steve Thomason, Dean of the Cathedral and Medical Doctor; Bishop Greg Rickel.
Slide Deck: https://resources.ecww.org/diocese-olympia-guidelines-re-opening-webinar-slides
Stewardship Webinars
During this webinar, Bishop Rickel shares some of the basics of stewardship and giving, which still apply even in crisis (maybe more so), and explored the very unique challenges to stewardship found in this current situation. Bishop Rickel ends the webinar with time for Q&A.
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“Setting the Table for Generosity: Frameworks for Stewardship in COVID Times” explores sound scriptural understandings of healthy and effective stewardship foundations and frameworks, considerations, unique opportunities and practical strategies for unfolding stewardship appeals in this current time. Guest Marc Rieke, Senior Consultant for The Enrichment Group, has 20 years of experience supporting and guiding Christian congregations through difficult financial periods. He brings a solidly-grounded perspective of encouragement and purposeful, constructive action. The session included time for addressing specific questions from participants.
Marc serves as Senior Consultant for The Enrichment Group, a consulting team serving Christian churches in capital and annual fund appeals, stewardship education initiatives, feasibility and visioning studies, and strategic planning efforts. In his 20 years with Enrichment, Marc has led more than 100 successful campaigns in churches and church-related organizations – many of them within the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia – in projects ranging from several hundred thousand dollars to more than $10M. Marc received both his B.A. and M.A. in education from Pacific Lutheran University and served as a professional educator and school administrator at the secondary level for 15 years. Marc has served on the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Southwestern Washington Synod Council, and as President of the Board for Sound Outreach, a non-profit agency that serves economically disadvantaged, disabled and homeless individuals. Marc and his husband, Paul, have their home in Tacoma, WA, and are members at Bethany Presbyterian Church there.
Congregational Development and Leadership Formation
Clergy Wellness for Lay Leaders: Caring for Your Clergy During COVID Times
The past nine months have been incredibly hard on everyone, and this is especially true for our clergy who lead and work with congregations. This webinar is designed to help lay leaders, especially wardens and other vestry and bishop’s committee members, think through how to maintain positive relationships of care and support with their clergy in the midst of stressful times. Led by Bishop Rickel and Canon for Congregational Development and Leadership Formation Alissa Newton, this webinar will help lay leaders identify concrete ways to support their clergy, identify specific points of stress where they can be of support, and work to stay in life-giving relationship with the priests who lead their congregations. The Episcopal Church is already seeing early retirements, and some clergy are burning out. Come and learn how you can keep this from happening with your priest and support the continued vitality of your clergy and your congregation.
Faith Formation
Author, blogger, educator, and faith formation cornerstone Sharon Ely Pearson uses her own family history over five generations to help explain how people’s needs for the church have changed and how the church’s cultural and educational role has changed, all of which informs how we “form faith” today. She also introduces ideas for the future including the “VUCA World” model where the church plays a role in transforming volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity into vision, understanding, clarity, and agility.
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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 we truly welcome children in the life of our churches, especially in worship? If children are full members of the Body of Christ through their baptism, shouldn’t they be full participants in Word and Sacrament? Let’s explore how worship can truly be a multi-generational experience for the whole church.”
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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 everything. They have adapted to the challenges of the modern world, including technology, terrorism, and climate change. These youth see religion as a private matter and are moving away from involvement or identification with a church, and even from religious belief. Join the conversation as we explore how to nurture the spirituality of our youth at home and church so that their faith can guide them into adulthood in our precarious world.”
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While Sunday School as we once knew it is on hold, Godly Play storytelling can continue thanks to Zoom and a little ingenuity. The Reverend Kay Flores, St. Timothy’s, Chehalis, a long-time Godly Play trainer, demonstrates how you can improve your Godly Play outreach with a document camera, a technique which better showcases the sacred stories. Kay draws from her own experience, and that of other trainers from around the country, in offering tips and making recommendations on how best to lead virtual sessions.
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A conversation about what’s working – and what isn’t – in this brave new world of virtual faith formation, sharing best practices for reaching out to children and families.
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Join Dr. Grace La Torra, the Dean of the Diocese of Olympia Iona School, for the first in a series of webinars exploring a variety of spiritual discipline topics. This first webinar provides an overview of spiritual disciplines and proposes that spiritual disciplines are a way of entering into God’s presence. Using Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s theory of Flow, look at spiritual disciplines as a means to human thriving.
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Join Diocesan Librarian Sue Tait for a webinar that explores the Diocesan Resource Center Library as an integral part of our diocesan vision and introduces resources from the library’s home page. Spend time exploring the online catalog and learn helpful search tips for finding topics or individual titles.
Other Webinars from the Office of the Bishop
Starting in 2012 and renewed in 2017, a partnership was developed between the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Philippines and the Diocese of Olympia with the goal to help encourage and support the replanting of trees in areas that had been harvested on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines and give people in the Diocese of Olympia a place to offset their carbon footprint.
To support this work, donations for the carbon dioxide taken up by the growing trees have been received and sent to the Diocese of Southern Philippines through the Diocese of Olympia. A number of visits have been made to the Philippines and one visit from a Diocese of Southern Philippines delegation to the Diocese of Olympia has occurred. Through these visits we have been able to develop friendships as well as sharing our life stories and our faith.
This program has been put together to measure the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the growing trees by measuring the survival and growth rate of the trees in sample plots. This presentation gives a brief review of the partnership and the outcomes to date.
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Join Diocesan Chancellors Judith Andrews and Bryan Krislock for a special Zoom Q&A about the canonical and legal requirements, and any changes to the rules of order for your upcoming virtual annual meeting.
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Working against structural and systemic racism in our culture and in our church takes skill. Learn about how increasing your skill in navigating intercultural similarity and difference can help you begin to do the personal work necessary to navigate, understand, and support efforts to dismantle racism in our church and in our individual lives.
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The Washington Legislature passed legislation this session which provides some assistance for congregations that are active or want to become active in housing homeless people. In the past, local governments have often enacted laws or regulations to discourage the housing of unsheltered people by congregations. This legislation provides a framework in which to start discussions with local governments for permission to provide such housing. It sets limits on the power of local governments to regulate the provision of housing by congregations and prohibits local governments from imposing conditions that substantially burden the decisions or actions of a church regarding the location of housing or shelter of unsheltered persons.
This webinar provides information and details about the legislation. It provides a summary and description of legal requirements contained in the new legislation for congregations wishing to host people in homeless shelters on their property by the Chancellor. Jeffrey Boyce, the Diocesan Missioner for Homeless Ministries, discusses the nuts and bolts of how congregations can work with their local government under this new law in order to offer shelter and assistance to individuals experiencing homelessness. The webinar finished with a time for questions and answers of the presenters.
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Webinar on mental health and wellness facilitated by Renee Balodis-Cox, LMHC, MA, MS.
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Why do we Keep Archives? How do Archives help us Keep the Faith?
As Bishop Cochrane said when the diocesan archives was founded: We are the People of Remembrance. We are the People with a Story. Archives keep and tell our stories… Archives increase our sense of identity and help us understand who we are and how we came to be. Join diocesan archivist, Diane Wells, as she provides a look into our diocesan archives, shares highlights of our archival collections, and reflects on how the Archives relates to our diocesan vision and helps us Keep the Faith.
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Buildings are like pets. They need caring humans to be at their best. Even in a pandemic, it’s about your buildings and their need for your time and care, especially right now. Join your diocesan property manager, the Rev. Dennis Tierney, for a conversation about how to care for buildings so they can support your congregation’s mission until the Second Coming.
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Hacking, phishing, spoofing, fake accounts, spam of all kinds – the need for cyber security runs throughout the work many of us do. Join Diocesan Internet Strategist Kerry Allman and find out how to identify malicious internet activity, how to protect yourself from cyberattacks, and how to help others do the same.
Slide deck: https://resources.ecww.org/cybersecurity-slide-deck
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Join us for a presentation on the Diocese of Olympia’s refugee resettlement program, which has been in operation since 1978. Greg Hope, director of the Diocese of Olympia’s Refugee Resettlement Office presents basic information including past and future arrival trends, followed by a description of program services. Three former refugees, who have shed their refugee status to become citizens, describe their experiences before and after their arrival in Washington. The presentation is followed by questions from the audience.
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The internet is filled with information. This inevitably leads to claims and counter-claims on both sides of an issue using data from the internet to support or disprove a position. How do we vet this data to verify or disprove its content? This webinar will provide tools to help you learn how to identify truth and facts from fiction and misinformation. Furthermore, we will filter this information through “soft eyes” so that we can be equipped to proclaim the Good News and work on social justice issues (or just to be better informed), be better advocates, and filter out all of the noise and disinformation with love and compassion.
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The Paycheck Protection Program, part of the Federal CARES Act, is set up to provide loans through the Small Business Administration (SBA) as a direct incentive for businesses to keep their workforce employed during the COVID-19 crisis. This webinar will offer help in applying for a loan to grant program recently funded in the CARES Act. Parishes applying for these loans are welcome to participate. We will also discuss applications being made on behalf of the diocese – both missions and diocesan entities. We will cover: who is eligible, suggested procedures for applying, and canonical and legal details that may affect your congregation’s application.
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The following webinar was held on April 9 by the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia and was facilitated by Diocesan Chancellor Judy Andrews and Diocesan Vice-Chancellor Bryan Krislock. This webinar will help you and your financial stewards navigate Emergency Paid Sick Leave (Families First Coronavirus Response Act) and expanded unemployment benefits for affected employees. We will discuss: how to administer Emergency Paid Sick Leave employees/employee families affected by COVID-19, and the expanded unemployment benefits which are available to church workers.
How can I find the webinar that was done earlier this year (or maybe 2020?) that provided an update on the carbon offset program in the Southern Philippines?
Hi Marjorie,
The video has been embedded at the top of the “Other Webinars Section” of this page, and you can also find it on our YouTube channel at the following link: https://youtu.be/hd-2ipY7bJA
Thanks!
Josh Hornbeck,
Canon Missioner for Communications
Hi Josh,
Wondering if it is possible to view (and where) Martin Smith’s workshop on prayer that was held in May?
Hi Elaine+,
This comment came in while I was on sabbatical and I’m catching up on these things post-Convention. Here is that video from the cathedral’s website: https://youtu.be/AtC2dVH3IRg
Thank you!
Josh Hornbeck
Canon Missioner for Communications
The ZOOM session of Native Spirituality was recorded. Is that recording available?
Hi Phil,
You’ll need to check with the cathedral at info@saintmarks.org, as they hosted the event and would have access to any Zoom recordings.
Thanks!
Josh Hornbeck
Canon Missioner for Communications