The Cathedral Institute, All Saints Cathedral, Milwaukee, and the Episcopal Preaching Foundation are partnering to host a preaching workshop in the Fall. The workshop addresses The New Media Landscape: A New Context for Preaching.  Hosted by the DeKoven Center, Racine, Wisconsin, this 2-day workshop will examine how electronic media are being used to prepare for, present, and share the preaching event.  The program will include small preaching groups, each led by a trained moderator; and participants are asked to bring a sermon that they have delivered, or are working on, for the preaching groups.

Peter Wild, Executive Director of EPF has announced the co-chairs and faculty for the workshop. Co-chairing the Conference are The Rev. Dr. Brent Norris and the Rev. Dr. Stephen Smith. Norris teaches preaching in the Diocese of Western North Carolina Deacon’s Training Program, serves as the Diocesan Ecumenical Officer and teaches for the EPF’s  Preaching Excellence Program. Smith is Rector of St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church - Dublin, Ohio and has published extensively on preaching.

The Faculty is made up of distinguished scholars and practitioners in the field of Homiletics and communication. They will examine a range of topics, including preaching and the new media, embodying the Word, and the spirituality of preaching. The faculty members are,  

• The Rev. Dr. O. Wesley Allen, Jr., Lois Craddock Perkins Professor of Homiletics at Perkins School of Theology Southern Methodist University.
• The Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle, Ninth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas
• The Rev. George “Tripp” Hudgins, Bogard Teaching Fellow and Instructor in Homiletics and Liturgy at CDSP.
• The Rev. Nathan Kirkpatrick, managing director of Alban at Duke Divinity School.
• Christine Parton Burkett, speech-language pathologist, consultant at Duke Divinity School.

​For more information contact the Director of the Cathedral Institute, the Very Rev. Steven A. Peay, Ph.D. at Steven.Peay@ascathedral.org.

Originally posted 11/28/2018. Updated 4/15/2019.

​A Gathering of People of Faith on Saturday, April 13, includes a personal appearance of award-winning film producer Katrina Brown. In seminary, Browne discovered her Rhode Island ancestors were the biggest slave-trading family in U.S. history. She decided to confront this painful past. The resulting award-winning film, Traces of the Trade (PBS: 2008, tracesofthetrade.org) follows her modern-day family’s journey of discovery as they come to grips with this buried Northern history and its ripples in the present day.
 
“As a white woman,” Browne shared in a recent interview, “I’ve come to feel called to this work of racial repair not out of guilt, but grief.”
 
The gathering starts at 10:00 a.m. at The Beloved Community of Intercession Episcopal and Redeemer Lutheran, 900 Brilowski Road on the east side of Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Registration is at diofdl.org/tott. It is open to the public.
 
Event planners from four area denominations are working cooperatively to promote healing across racial divides. The morning includes a viewing of Traces of the Trade followed by discussion led by Browne. The afternoon includes presenting information about Sacred Ground (episcopalchurch.org/sacred-ground), a new free resource from the Episcopal Church which is a film-based race dialogue series for small groups in congregations.
 
The event sponsors include the Episcopal Diocese of Fond du Lac, the East Central Synod of Wisconsin (ELCA), the North East District of the Wisconsin United Methodist Church, and the Winnebago Presbytery. Denominational leaders meet regularly to discuss ways they can work together to enhance their ministry.
 
Additional details at diofdl.org/tott.

Are you a lay leader or pastor who seeks to ground your commitment to justice in a deeper spirituality, and connect with the message of the scriptures in a more profound way? Are you looking for an educational opportunity that allows plenty of room to breathe, reflect, and integrate what you’ve learned? The Washington Island Forum experience is what you’re looking for. 

This year's Forum topic of “A Revolution of Values: The Bible, the Poor, & a Moral Imagination for Faith in Our Common Life” is cosponsored by the Wisconsin Council of Churches and The Christian Century magazine. Enjoy worship, workshops, discussion, and contemplation in an ecumenical retreat setting on Washington Island, just six miles off the tip of Door County Wisconsin. The week begins on Monday afternoon with a welcome and opening picnic at Trinity Lutheran Church. Tuesday through Thursday, ground yourself in morning prayer, then attend presentations by our speaker at the Trueblood Performing Arts Center. In the afternoon, choose optional discussions or island recreation. Friday begins with a Eucharist, features a final presentation, and concludes by noon.

For more information, visit wichurches.org.

Hardly a day goes by that Islam is not raised as a subject of concern by the news media. Islam has been on the minds of Americans since the events of 2001; however, it seems clear that most Americans know little more about Islam than they did before 9/11. “What exactly is Islam?” “What do Muslims believe?” “How should we as American Christians relate to Muslims?” Oftentimes, when we don’t understand a group of people whose faith and culture is different than ours, we approach them with fear and distrust.

​In Unveiling Islam, Episcopal priest and former Muslim, the Rev’d Canon Ezgi Saribay Perkins, will present a series of talks intended to engage the Fond du Lac community in a meaningful dialogue about the beliefs practices of Islam, paying particular attention to its similarities with and differences from Christianity. The talks will be held on Wednesday nights from October 10-31 at 6 pm in Trakel Hall of the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul the Apostle, 51 West Division Street in Fond du Lac. Refreshments will be served.

The Rev’d Canon Ezgi Saribay Perkins was born in Western Turkey and raised as a Muslim. After coming to the United States for college education, she converted to Christianity. In 2008, she became an Episcopalian and continued her faith journey in the Episcopal seminary, where she met her husband, the Very Reverend C. Patrick Perkins. She currently serves the Canon Precentor to the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul the Apostle.

Violence: Prepare, Respond, and Regroup for Faith Communities
Thursday, September 20 

The Wisconsin Faith Community Nurse Coalition is offering a one-day event to enhance knowledge and resources regarding violence both in the community and in the congregation. The conference will be held at Aurora Sinai Medical Center in Milwaukee. The morning will focus on bullying, domestic violence and physical violence including gun violence. The afternoon will concentrate on healing after events within the congregation. All will receive a certificate of participation and resources on these topics.  Nurses will receive continuing nursing education credits. Multiple registrations from the same congregation will receive a $10 Visa card (per participant) after the conference.

Additional scholarships are available through Episcopal Health Ministries of $25 per participant for Episcopalians and those serving Episcopal congregations. Please contact Maryfran Crist FCN at maryfrancrist64@gmail.com. Register here. 

The St. John, New London's Order of St. Luke healing ministry is hosting a healing conference, "How to Live in the Power of Christ,"  September 22, 2018 from 8:30-3:00. Subtitles include: Praying in the Power of Christ's Faith; Living in the Power of Christ's Life; Healing in the Power of Christ's Love. Opportunity for healing prayer will also be offered.
 
The guest speaker is the Rev. Josh Acton, North American Director for the Order of St. Luke International Healing Ministry. He has been a pastor for 27 years at Anglican, Episcopal and Vineyard churches and is the spiritual leader for OSL.
 
Cost for attendance is $30, includes presentation, lunch and breaks. For more information about the healing ministry or to register, contact Jan Peskie 920-716-5757 or joejanpeskie@gmail.com.  Register here.

The documentary Traces of the Trade will be shown in the Wisconsin River Deanery from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 11th at St. Matthias Episcopal Church, 403 Chicago Street, Minocqua. All are welcome to attend. A discussion will be held following the viewing. Lunch will be provided, although donations to help offset the cost are welcome.  Please RSVP below.

​In the feature documentary Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North, filmmaker Katrina Browne discovers that her New England ancestors were the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. She and nine cousins retrace the Triangle Trade and gain powerful new perspectives on the black/white divide. Learn more about it here.

The Diocese of Fond du Lac's Commission on Congregational Vitality will be hosting a workshop on managing change in congregations. It will be repeated in each of the deaneries.  This workshop, presented by Leslie Gunter, the Rev. Diane Murray, and the Rev. Ralph Osborne, is designed for both clergy and lay leaders. The workshop in each location will begin at 8:30 with a continental breakfast, with program beginning at 9 am. The day concludes by 3 pm. A registration fee of $15 per person includes the continental breakfast, lunch and materials.

To register, click here . . . 

For Carrie Headington, the impact of an outward focused, welcoming church hit home in 2003 while watching Canon Michael Green rekindle hope and a mission-mindset in struggling Church of England parishes. Green at the time was evangelism staff officer for the Archbishop of Canterbury and head of evangelism and apologetics at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford.

Often just a handful of people attended these churches and Headington assumed they were on the brink of closure, but Green showed her they just needed help in recognizing God's call and taking that invitation to their neighborhood.
​
"I got absolutely hooked. I said this is what I want to do for the rest of my life," said Headington in her opening presentation to the Diocese of Fond du Lac's May 13 conference Taking God's Mercy and Delight into the Neighborhood. Seeing life restored and the joy that follows were a powerful endorsement for the call to evangelism. "What I saw was people coming absolutely alive. I couldn't wait to be part of doing this work."

Four workshops will be offered as part of the Diocese of Fond du Lac's Spring Conference "TAKING GOD'S MERCY AND DELIGHT INTO THE NEIGHBORHOOD" on May 13. They are "We Were Headed For Aruba; How Did We End Up In Anchorage? How To Make A Vision Happen," "Jesus Has Left The Building," "Telling Our Stories," and "Sharing The Good News." Learn more and register at ​diofdl.org/sc.