Bicycles for Ezo!

There are smiles on both sides of the ocean celebrating the purchase of 16 bicycles for the Clergy of the Diocese of Ezo!  Bishop John Zawo (Diocese of Ezo) and the clergy of Ezo identified bicycles as a pressing need in discussions of their goals and priorities with Bishop Wolf. 

Until now the Clergy of Ezo have had to walk ten miles or more to visit parishioners in need, or to meet with their Bishop. The bicycles will greatly enable the ministry of these devoted men, and we hope they will offer some relief to Clergy families as well. Since the Clergy in Ezo recieve no compensation for their service it has been difficult for them to help keep their families fed while spending so much time in transit.

The money for the bicycles was raised through the "Mango Tree" project started by Bishop Wolf and Tom Bair when they returned home from their trip to Ezo in Southern Sudan last December. After being collected, the money was wired to the people of the Diocese of Ezo, for them to purchase the Chinese bicycles that are common in their area and have plenty of replacement parts available. Thanks to all who have contributed!

If you would like to learn more about the "Mango tree" project or to make a contribution, email liz@episcopalri.org

Our Newest Deacon, Anne Burke

Prayers and congratulations are due to Anne Burke, who was ordained to the Sacred order of Deacons on the 12th of September 2009, at the Church of the Ascension in Cranston. Bishop Wolf officiated, and gave a touching sermon. She spoke on Act 6 where the disciples appointed the first deacons, seven people full of wisdom and the Spirit, who were chosen to serve and feed the needy so that the disciples could focus on prayer and the ministry of the Word. Bishop Wolf pointed out the sacrificial nature of the Diaconate, an order full of givers who recieve no compensation and yet must be ready to go to wherever their service and support is most needed. She offered a word of thanks to the Deacons of this Diocese for their vital ministry, and to Anne for the compassionate nature and servant's heart that makes her so well suited for this vocation.

There wasn't a seat to be had in the building that day, and the event was followed by a lively reception in the Parish Hall.

You can view a photoalbum of the event here!

Religion reporting is losing its prominence in American newspapers - The Boston Globe

An interesting article Bishop Wolf found in the Globe, about the decline in religion reporting by major media outlets, and how Churches are taking more initiative to get their message out despite the lack of media coverage.



Religion reporting is losing its prominence in American newspapers - The Boston Globe

Phone system update

UPDATE!

As of 2:30 pm the system is up and running. There will be some bugs to work through, so bear with us and let us know if you run in to any problems when calling in.

New phone system for the Diocesan office

After 15 years of service, our old phone system has been on its last legs this summer. As of this morning we are in the process of installing a new system that will be much more agile for us to customize to our needs and much easier and more pleasant for callers to interact with.

The installation was to have been completed last night, but our technician ran across several issues in our existing telephone wiring that we hope to have fixed by this afternoon. In the mean time our email is working just fine!