Upcoming Listening Sessions

Dear Friends in Christ,

Earlier this year we consecrated out installed our new Bishop. Bp. Austin Rios has been our official diocesan bishop since August 1st and he is already hard at work getting to know the diocese and making plans for the future. One of his first acts was to partner with the Executive Council on a Strategic Visioning Process. This process is intended to help the diocese address, plan for, adapt, and respond to the challenges and opportunities facing our diocese, some of which were identified during the search for Bishop IX. It is a process of mutual prayer and reflection to discern the direction in which God is calling our diocese. A committee was appointed as a sub-committee of the Executive Council and is working with Bp. Austin and a consultant, but we are all invited to participate in a series of listening sessions being held in each deanery and online.

The diocese is not some amorphous entity “out there,” it is the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement in the Bay Area. As members of the Body of Christ who identify as Episcopalians, we are all part of that movement, and all responsible for living it out in our communities – for bringing the Kingdom of God near, as our Gospel so often states. This is your opportunity to have your say about what the Episcopal Church in the Bay Area will look like for the next decade or so. Your input is not only invited it is vital to help determine how we respond as a Church to the needs and demands of our corner of the world. and I urge you all to attend at least one of these sessions. The in-person session for our deanery will be held on September 5 at St. Stephens Orinda (6:30pm) or you can attend the virtual session on October 3 (Zoom, also 6:30pm). You can learn more about this process here. If you have questions or need help getting to one of these sessions, please see Rev. Jane.

Yours in Christ,

Rev. Jane+