The Episcopal Diocese of Utah
Living Boldly

Connecting with each other, our communities and the world

Living Boldly aims to inform, enrich and equip you to build connections to individuals and groups; to stimulate information sharing, conversation and growth opportunities in your areas of ministry.

April 24, 2008 (including subsequent news sent later that day)

"This community called the Church is a laboratory for lovers. If we can learn to love each other here, we can transform the world. If we can begin to believe that we are loved for who we are, beyond all understanding and measure, maybe we can be a little less defensive, a little less snakelike, when we're confronted with a threat." -- from A Wing and a Prayer by The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop

Dates & Deadlines

Go GREEN: Diocesan Spring Youth Event! includes hiking, swimming, a gardening service project, and a fun-filled bus ride to St. George!

WHEN: Friday, May 2 - Sunday, May 4, 2008
WHERE: Grace Episcopal Church, St. George
WHO: Junior AND Senior High Youth (Grades 6-12)
COST: $70 includes transportation from Salt Lake City to St. George.
All required forms are available at Youth Ministry on the diocesan website. Any questions? Email Karen Van Winkle or call (801)322-4131 ext. 344 or Melissa Lees, Youth Ministry Assistant, at (801)891-8842.

Saturday, May 3, 6 p.m. start
St. James' Anniversary Dinner & Silent Auction with Social hour & Silent Auction 6-7 pm, followed by Dinner and Dancing. Music by "Escape." Tickets are $15 per person or $200 per table. Neighboring Asian Star restaurant will prepare a gourmet dinner. This year's Outreach Charitable recipient is the International Rescue Committee (IRC) The IRC works closely with the Salt Lake community to ensure the smooth resettlement for refugees who come to Utah to live. For more information or to purchase tickets, call St. James' at 801-566- 1311.

Saturday, May 17, 8:30-4:30 p.m.
Church Worker Conduct Training for Lay Persons, Grace Episcopal Church in St. George, UT. Deadline for registration is Tuesday, May 13. Email Leesa Kramer for a registration form and a list of parish workers/volunteers required to attend a training, or call 801-322-4131.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008, 11 am to 3 pm
Episcopal Church Center of Utah (ECCU): Area health professionals will conduct a workshop on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with primary focus on veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and their families. Workshop content applies to many PTSD situations.
Topics Include:
Identifying PTSD
Theological and spiritual responses to the disorder
Community Resources for people living with PTSD
Some research linking PTSD symptoms with Traumatic Brain Injury
What church communities can do to support returning vets or the families of deployed veterans
Participants will receive a notebook containing presentation notes, networks and resources. Note: You do not have to be close to a military base to have families in your community -- rural or urban -- who are in crisis. Participants will be asked to provide feedback on content and presentation for this new ministry, affiliated with St. Peter's Church in Clearfield. For LUNCH reservations please email Angela at ECCU or call 801-322-4131. So planners may know how many notebooks to create e-mail: Susan Beem-Beery. Workshop presenters will travel to provide regional trainings, if requested.

Monday, April 28, Noon: A Good Read
Join the long-running Reading Group as it takes up a new work, Peter J. Gomes's The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus. Lively discussion and camaraderie. Bring your own book copy and a sack lunch. All are invited. The group meets in the media room at the Episcopal Church Center of Utah (ECCU). For more information email Convenor Steve Andersen.

Saturday, May 3, 7-8:30 p.m. College Reunion
An Anniversary Celebration of Campus Ministry in Utah. Featured speaker: The Rt. Rev. Carolyn Tanner Irish. Music, desserts and remembrances. A joint celebration of the 140th year of the Episcopal Church in Utah and its ministry in Higher Education and the Centennial Anniversary of Campus Ministry for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Email your RSVP to Pastor Joel or call 801-597-5602. To find out more, click on Lumen.

Thursday, May 22, 7-9 p.m. Festive Retirement Party
A festive reception will be held for Ruth Eller, Rector of St. John's, Logan, to celebrate her retirement. All are invited to come and help us celebrate the time she spent with us and to wish her well on her new journey. St. John's is located at 85 East 100 North in downtown Logan. Please give us a call at 435-752- 0331 and let us know if you can attend.

The Green Vocation: Creation Care Liturgies
Steve Keplinger, Rector of St. David's, Page, AZ writes that the liturgies they use during the latter part of the Pentecost Season (harvest) are available at St. David's website.

From The Thoughtful Christian
New Adult Study Material available includes a one- session study on Compassion as a Spiritual Discipline; a three-session study entitled, Rediscovering Paul; and a two-session study on Global Climate Change: Facts and Solutions. To order, or simply explore this fascinating site, click on TC. Use the tabs on Christian Living and Contemporary Issues to locate full descriptions of the material. Go to the bottom of the page and click on "About Us" to learn more.

JUNE EVENTS

Saturday, June 21, 8:30-4 p.m.
Day of Discovery: A Program for Discerning Ministry in the Episcopal Church at ECCU. Cost: $40 includes food and workshop material. Make checks payable to EDU. Registration deadline is June 6. Space is limited.
In addition to the day's work of appreciation and discernment, a 12-week ministry discernment course entitled Context for Ministry will be introduced. This annual event is required for anyone discerning a call to ordained ministry. For more information, or to obtain a registration form, email Vicki Evans or call 801-322-4131. The Day is sponsored by the Bishop and the Commission on Ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah.

Saturday-Sunday, June 28 and 29, 8-5 p.m. each day
Seeing the Face of God in Each Other: Training in Anti-Racism is mandated training for all lay and ordained leadership in the Episcopal Church. Space is limited. At ECCU, in SLC, No registration fee. Overnight accommodations available, $42 single, $21 shared. Continental breakfast and lunch served each day at no charge. Phone reservations at 801-322-4131 or email Karen Pena.

Looking for a Few Good Campers for Camp Tuttle!
This year's theme: "Handle with Care!" Understanding the impact of our consumption of earth's resources and its effects on God's Creation.

2008 Summer Camp Schedule:
June 29-July 2 3rd & 4th Grade Mini-Camp
July 6-11 5th & 6th Grade Camp
July 13-18 7th & 8th Grade Camp
July 20-25 High School Leadership
Aug 1-3 Family Camp
For Camp details and registration forms, go to Camp Tuttle.

Thursday, June 26-Saturday, June 28
Province VIII of the Episcopal Church will hold a Conference on Stewardship, Evangelism and Congregational Development at the Monarch Conference Center, Portland, OR. For more information or to register online, go to Province VIII. Questions? call 650-941-6436 or send an email to Joanna Shreve. Include "Province VIII" in the subject line.

Peacemaking, Social Justice & Advocacy

More People are Going Hungry
Statewide dial 211, Information and Referral, to find the nearest food distribution outlets near you. To find out about Food Stamps, go to UT Food Stamp Info.

In the Salt Lake area, Crossroads Urban Center, the largest food pantry in Utah, cites a 40% increase in the number of persons seeking food aid in February and another 40% jump in March. Linda Hilton of Crossroads suggests ways your congregation can help Crossroads or the pantry in your area:
Choose one month in the year to do a BIG food drive for your local pantry, or for Crossroads.
Ideas:

Have a clothing drive or get creative and collect items for area thrift stores.
Hold a kitchen drive for everything from towels to pots and pans.
Sign up for a Take Out Hunger campaign. Crossroads will give you small take-out containers for your kitchen table. Every few days, put in a few coins as an offering to those who have gone that day without sufficient nutrition. You decide what is enough.
Take a special collection for Crossroads or your local pantry: small change, a donation of a can of food, toothbrush or a pair of socks as event admission.
Collect hygiene items and assemble basic, family kits. Lists of items provided along with suggestions for a successful project.
Plant a row in your garden and donate all that food to your local pantry.
Include a mini-service project with your events. Collecting small lotion, sign a letter supporting food programs.

If you are interested in starting your own project with Crossroads or in your own community, email Linda Hilton, or call Linda at Crossroads, 801-364-7765, x113.

Other Resources for Persons in Need
Hildegarde's Pantry, a ministry of St. Mark's Cathedral, SLC, operates a food pantry for individuals and families. Call for requirements and hours of service: 801-328-2303.

St. Paul's, SLC, offers an unusual ministry: A pantry open weekend hours to serve working families. Currently serves 15-20 family units (50-60 individuals) each week on Saturdays from 9-1 p.m. Call during the week for goods and services offered: 801-322-5869.

Lutheran Social Services of Utah offers its Manna Market in Salt Lake City to serve refugee & low- income persons and families. Usually, the distribution is on Thursdays at 3 p.m. People can come to Suite 305 at the Mill Square Building at 1800 South West Temple. In good weather the market is outside to the east and back of the Mill Square Building. No documentation required. Call to confirm service dates and times. Contact Diaconal Minister Leslie Vance Whitehead at 801-588-0139 or click on LSSU.

St. Jude's, Cedar City offers a weekly dinner program aimed at SUU students and college age young adults. The program draws 100+ participants each week. It is free.

St. David's, Page, AZ operates a weekly major pantry effort that draws persons from more than 100 miles away.

If your parish operates a food pantry or a meal ministry, please send details to the Living Boldly editor know.

More Pantry Participants
In response to our query to Living Boldly readers to let us know of their parish's participation in food pantry or feeding programs, we received the following from Deanna Sue Adams of St. Michael's in Brigham City: "At St. Michael's in Brigham, we participate in both our area pantry and soup kitchen. We prepare meals on Thursday every six weeks and have several parishioners on the board of directors for the Acts IV Soup Kitchen. The Box Elder Pantry is collected for each week in the Nave. We also have a parishioner on this board. Funds are allocated for each in the yearly budget as well." Thank you, Deanna Sue!

Education & Spiritual Formation

Opportunities for Continuing Education
Thursday-Sunday, June 5-8
Everyone, Everywhere Mission Conference of the Episcopal Church, in Baltimore, MD. Conference to cover all aspects of mission including the Millennium Development Goals and companion diocese relationships. For more information, visit the conference website at Everyone08. (Courtesy of Kathy Horvat).

CALL at Church Divinity School of the Pacific has issued its summer course list, which includes some excellent offerings for in-person and online instruction. To explore, go to CALL.

Creation Care Study
Three session, biblically based, study on Creation Care. Inexpensive download for adult forum time or small group discussion. Check it out at Bible Study.

The Open Book Store is happening this summer! Living Boldly subscribers will receive a grand opening notice and coupon!

The next issue of Living Boldly will be published, God willing, the third week of May. The editor is away on vacation.

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The Rev. Jessica Hatch
Education and Resource Office
801-322-4131 Ext. 362 jhatch@episcopal-ut.org

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