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- Congregational Development Grant Applications
- Bishop's School – Fall 2008
- The Designated Lover -- Changing the Game of Life ... By Bishop Paul Marshall
- newSpin 080425
- DOK Retreat
- New Ministry/Carbondale and Forest City
- A Brush with God -- Icon Painting Retreat
- Jubilate, Pentecost Season 2008
- In 600 words or less ... A bishop engages the culture beyond his church
- Sermon at Memorial Service for Henry Pease
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April 2008
April 25, 2008
DOK Retreat
The Daughters of the King retreat took place on April 4-6 at the Franciscan Retreat Center in Easton. Deacon Johanna Depue from the Geranium Farm was the presenter. Mother Gwendolyn-Jane and Deacon Marion Meiss, who are Daughters of the King were participating with the retreatants. Attached is a picture of some of the women who made the retreat. It was a blessed weekend.
Joan De Acetis
President
Daughters of the King
Diocese of Bethlehem
Download the photo below.
Download 0804.DOK Retreat.jpg
New Ministry/Carbondale and Forest City
Trinity Church Carbondale and Christ Church Forest City celebrated their new ministry with the rector, Father Don Schaible, on Sunday afternoon, April 20. Download more information, with pics, below
A Brush with God -- Icon Painting Retreat
Peter Pearson, a well known iconographer, teacher of iconography and author of A Brush with God: An Icon Painting Workbook, will offer a five day icon painting retreat at the Fatima Renewal Center in Dalton, PA (near Scranton) from May 18 to May 23.
During this retreat the participants will gather for prayer several times a day, study various aspects of Byzantine iconography, and paint their own icon of Saint George and the Dragon from start to finish.
This is a beginner level experience and there is no requirement for prior artistic experience. The cost for the entire week is $500 (including room and board). Further information is available by contacting Peter at 412-848-2642 or by email at pearson@nb.net.
Continue reading "A Brush with God -- Icon Painting Retreat" »
Jubilate, Pentecost Season 2008
Hymnody for the Pentecost Season (May 11 to November 23, 2008), published by the Diocese of Bethlehem for our diocesan community and for free distribution to the world, may be downloaded below as an Acrobat or MSWord file. Jubilate is a service of our Liturgy and Music Commission, specifically Canon Cliff Carr who has been doing this for more than 30 years.
April 24, 2008
In 600 words or less ... A bishop engages the culture beyond his church
By Bill Lewellis
Communication Minister, Diocese of Bethlehem
Soon after becoming Bishop of the Diocese of Bethlehem in 1996, Paul Marshall wanted to connect with people he would not see in his church or in any church.
He decided to write a monthly column and offer it to local newspapers "to provide a polite but direct alternative to an extraordinarily conservative religious and political culture ... to offer good news particularly to those who cannot identify with or who have begun to question that culture, in either its protestant or Roman Catholic manifestations."
Since that time, daily and weekly newspapers in his 14-county Episcopal diocese in eastern and northeastern Pennsylvania have published some 130 of his monthly columns.
He is the only bishop in the Episcopal Church -- perhaps the only bishop of any church -- whose columns have had such a long run in area newspapers.
The column is almost always different from another column he writes for Diocesan Life, the monthly newspaper of the Diocese of Bethlehem.
"Given that most of the ink in the space allotted to religious columns in area newspapers is taken up by the dominant religious culture," he writes in the preface of his new book, Messages in the Mall: Looking at Life in 600 Words or Less (Seabury Books, 2008) a compilation of more than 90 of his columns, organized along thematic lines, "I have from the first spent most of my time each month attempting to reach those who think Christianity is irrelevant or anti-intellectual, and those who have been burned by rigorist religion."
[Click here for more information about this and other books by Marshall]
In his columns, Marshall addresses all aspects of life, from the intimate and complex relationships of couples and families to thorny social and religious issues. With dry wit, gentle humor, deep compassion and, sometimes, anger, he writes about topics from the tragic Columbine school shootings to the spiritual ramifications of the TV series The Sopranos.
Download the entire story below.
April 20, 2008
Sermon at Memorial Service for Henry Pease
Sermon in Loving Memory of the Rev. Henry J. Pease
Given at the Requiem Eucharist
April 19, 2008 in St. Stephen’s Pro-Cathedral, Wilkes-Barre
By the Ven. Richard I. Cluett
[More on Father Pease here]
Precious in the sight of God is the death of his saints. Precious, too, is the life of that saint. Beloved Henry J. Pease is such a one.
What calls to mind a beloved person? When you think about this man, what is it that comes to mind? The life and the death of Henry J. Pease have brought us to this day and to this service. I know some call him Mr. Pease, and that is an honorific, befitting this man. MR. Pease. Others of us know him as Father Pease, or Professor Pease, or Dad or Grampa, or simply as friend, colleague, or neighbor, Henry.
But now that we are here, what comes to mind – what comes to your mind – such a man whose life and death has brought us all here this day? Each of has had our own experience with this extraordinary ordinary man. So what is it for you?
Continue reading "Sermon at Memorial Service for Henry Pease" »
April 19, 2008
Love, laugh and relate ... by Bill Lewellis
[The Morning Call, Saturday, April 19, 2008]
“There is a story about the Greek gods. They were bored, so they invented human beings; but they were still bored, so they invented love, then they weren’t bored any longer. So they decided to try love for themselves. Finally, they invented laughter so they could stand it.”
That voiceover of Morgan Freeman intones Feast of Love, a movie about tangled relationships.
Love, laugh and relate.
My guess is that the most profound mystery embedded in our DNA – who we are, why we are, how we are to live, where we are headed –is that we are created to relate, to be in relationship. It may be the best clue to reality.
The most introverted person among us yearns deeply for shared intimacy – even if the yearning is not acknowledged until after breakfast.
Continue reading "Love, laugh and relate ... by Bill Lewellis" »
April 14, 2008
For the Bible Tells Me So
This documentary film will be shown at Christ Episcopal Church, Reading (435 Court Street) on Sunday, May 18, at 4:00 p.m. The event will be hosted by GLEF. All are welcome. For more information, see the GLEF website or email Dewayne Messenger.
In this film, through the experiences of five very normal, very Christian, very American families -- including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson -- we discover how insightful people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child. Informed by such respected voices as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Harvard's Peter Gomes, Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg and Reverend Jimmy Creech, For the Bible Tells Me So offers healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual identity.
St. Matthew Society Reception: Sunday, May 4
Bishop Paul will greet members of the St. Matthew Society as they gather on St. Matthew Sunday, May 4, for a special reception to honor and celebrate their generosity to the Church. The St. Matthew Society was founded in 2001 throughout the Diocese of Bethlehem to recognize and thank all those who have planned a gift to their individual parishes. This year’s celebration event will be held at the Lehigh Country Club from 3:00 to 5:30 p.m., and will feature food, drink and good company. The Bishop sincerely hopes that all current St. Matthew Society members will plan to join him and each other at this special gathering. For information about enrolling in the St. Matthew Society, and/or to learn more about the stewardship of planned giving, please contact Char Horst, Missioner for Development, at chorst@diobeth.org or 610.683.8625.
April 13, 2008
Cycles of Prayer.May
In the Diocese of Bethlehem
May 4: Grace Church, Kingston, The Rev. E. Geoffrey Howson, rector
May 11: St. Peter’s Church, Hazleton, The Rev. Jeffrey L. Funk, rector; The Rev. Marion Meiss, deacon
May 18: St. James Church, Dundaff, The Rev. Gregory M. J. Malia, vicar
May 25: Christ Church, Forest City, and Trinity Church, Carbondale, The Rev. Donald Schaible, rector
Anglicans Around the World
May 4: The Communion of Anglican provinces throughout the world
May 11: The clergy and people of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and The Middle East
May 18: The clergy and people of the Anglican Church of Kenya
May 25: The clergy and people of the Anglican Church of Korea
The Diocese of Kajo Keji
May 4: Leikor Archdeaconry, The Ven. Eliya Busi Andrewson
May 11: Liwolo Archdeaconry, The Ven. Abednego Duku Wodogo
May 18: Loggu Archdeaconry, The Ven. James Dina Bojoi
May 25: Romogi Archdeaconry, The Ven. Emmanuel Kenyi Pitia
Diocesan Life/May 2008
Stories and features include: Bishop Jack Croneberger's sermon delivered at the Chrism Mass. Picking up pieces of war, by Marius Bressoud. Bishop Paul's column: Does 'the Diocese' know or care who we are? Mark Laubach named Canon Precentor. Feeding the 600 in Montrose. Maria Tjeltveit named diocesan Ecumenical and Interfaith Officer. Education for Ministry offerings. Books by Bishop Paul. Calendar and cycles of prayer. Dwelling in the word, reflections on Pentecost by Jenifer Gamber and on Trinity Sunday by Bill Lewellis.
The first link will print the eight-page Diocesan Life in actual size. The second link, in letter size.
