Diocese of the Northeast & Mid-Atlantic

The REC NE&MA Diocesan Directory has been updates for January 2012.  Download from HERE.  Password for clergy and authorized users is available from the Diocesan Office.

Two Community Convocations are open to the public in February:

Tuesday, Feb. 7th, the Rev. Tit Hieng, the first Cambodian ordained as an Anglican priest, will speak at 11:15AM on  the Killing Fields, as well as the work of Anglicans in Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge period and the need for support of the Anglican Church in Cambodia. A flyer about him and his presentation in Texas Jan. 26th is HERE.

Monday, Feb. 13th, Mrs. Diana Lopez will speak at noon on The History and Role of the Deaconess.

Both events will be held in the McCausland Chapel at Reformed Episcopal Seminary in Blue Bell, PA.

The next Philadelphia Clergy Convocation is Saturday, March 3rd at 9am at the RE Seminary in Blue Bell, PA.  The Ministry Wives will also meet at the same time; they will cover chapter 8 of their book study.

Bishop Hick’s episcopal visitation and travel schedule for the spring of 2012 has been updated on the Bishop’s page HERE.

Last week Rev. Greg Miller was in Egypt for discussions with their Diocesan Bishop on how to assist ministry and academic collaboration in their challenging Christian-minority culture.  This week a group of US and European Anglican clergy (including our Archdeacon Jon Abboud) are holding discussions in England on how the RE Church can support the re-evangelization of Europe.  And next week is a symposium on Anglican missions in Southeast Asia in Bedford, TX.  For more information see the Anglican Global Missions Partners website HERE.

The next meeting of the Northeast Diocese Ministry Wives is scheduled for Saturday, February 18th at 10am at St. Paul’s RE Church in Oreland, PA.  They are currently reading chapter 7 of their book study.

Here’s one you won’t find on your new 2012 calendars.  Sunday, January 22, 2012, is National Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.  On this date in 1973 the US Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that a woman has a right to abort her unborn child.  In 1984 Ronald Reagan declared the first National Sanctity of Human Life Day, which continued through the Bush years.  Clinton and Obama have declined to issue proclamations.  The original plaintiff in the decision, Norma McCorvey, later changed her mind about seeking an abortion.  Here is what she had to say in a 1998 book, Won By Love:

“I was sitting in O.R.’s offices when I noticed a fetal development poster. The progression was so obvious, the eyes were so sweet. It hurt my heart, just looking at them. I ran outside and finally, it dawned on me. ‘Norma’, I said to myself, ‘They’re right’. I had worked with pregnant women for years. I had been through three pregnancies and deliveries myself. I should have known. Yet something in that poster made me lose my breath. I kept seeing the picture of that tiny, 10-week-old embryo, and I said to myself, that’s a baby! It’s as if blinders just fell off my eyes and I suddenly understood the truth — that’s a baby!”

The RE Northeast Diocese Winter Camp for middle and high schoolers is scheduled for March 2-4 at River Valley Ranch in Manchester, MD (about a half hour northwest of Baltimore).  Arrival time is 6pm Friday March 2nd.  The theme will be Theology of the Body.  More details and the application are in a brochure HERE.  Costs are $145 for first camper, $135 for second camper (same family), with $5 discount for applications submitted before Feb. 8th.  Application deadline is Feb. 15th. Questions to Billy Jenkins, completed applications to Mike Laur.

What’s to do?  There’s tubing, zip-line, big indoor gym, games, singing around the bonfire, and (extra fees) horseback riding and paintball.  Here’s a 3 minute Youtube video from another group that uses RVR during the winter:

(ok, maybe we’ll skip the backflip into the stream…)

Pray for snow!

The RE Diocese of Mid-America will be sponsoring a Church Growth Seminar for the parishes of the Reformed Episcopal Church on February 16-17, 2012 in Houston, TX.  Bishop Grote encourages all Rectors, Vicars and Lay Leaders from our parishes to attend.  The cost is $100 per registrant and includes seminar materials and lunch on Thursday and Friday.  Hotel reservations are additional and are the responsibility of the attendees. Registration deadline for the Seminar and the hotel (Drury Inn & Suites West, Houston TX) are January 12, 2012.  More information at the Diocese of Mid-America site HERE.

The Diocese Clergy Retreat is scheduled for January 26-28, 2012, at Best Western Eden Resort in Lancaster, PA.  The theme is “Treasures from the Psalms”, with four sessions by various members on individual Psalms.  Two breakfasts and one lunch are included in the registration fee; both night’s dinners are up to attendees (groups to local restaurants may be organized).  Consult the attached brochure HERE for costs based on occupancy and arrival time.  Consider blessing your clergy by encouraging or sponsoring their attendance.