By The Rev. Dcn. Ricky Brightman
Right now I know it’s difficult to think about MARCH but listen up – Convocation 2012 is coming and it will be different this year. There’s one unified topic – "Feeding the Hungry". We will be together for two days with an opportunity to feed our bodies and souls so that we will be better able to move out and feed others! Save the dates of March 9 and 10.
On Friday evening we will gather at St. Luke’s Church for a creative and inspiring worship service to be followed by a fabulous party and a community supper made by people in our parishes and brought together to share with everyone. Don’t leave the kids at home, they are welcome to worship and dine with us, and there will also be child care provided. As at all parties, there will be surprises. Come and enjoy.
On Saturday morning we will gather at the Marriott in Providence for worship, learning and sharing - all in a variety of different ways. Our Convocation leader will be Sara Miles, author of "Take This Bread" and "Jesus Freak: Feeding, Healing, Raising the Dead". In these books, Miles describes her own experience of attending to and serving others at her own church, St. Gregory of Nyssa in San Francisco. While talking about feeding the body(ies), Sara also recounts the many ways she and others have been both host and guest in ministry. She will participate in our worship and learning in several ways.
We have also planned smaller group sessions : Planning and Offering Transcendent Worship; Feeding of the Physical Body; Radical and Intentional Hospitality; The Spiritual Feeding of Children and Youth. Some sessions will be repeated.
We hope you will put these dates on your own calendar now and save the time. Convocation is being planned this year by the Mission Task Force, a small working group that represents a diversity of churches in our diocese. We continue the work we began a year ago as we endeavored to develop a Diocesan-wide Mission Focus of "Feeding the Hungry".
Throughout this past year we have communicated with parishes about what activities they are engaged in and are doing well – soup kitchens and food pantries, as well as some new community gardens.
We know Convocation 2012 will further engage us in our efforts to feed the people we encounter in our daily lives as well as in our parishes. We hope to recognize good old ideas, explore new ones, provide a forum for sharing, and inspire us to move forward as "Episcopalians Feeding the Hungry". Look for further information on the Diocesan website or the talk-force blog, join our email list, or speak personally with a member of the Mission Task Force: Ricky Brightman (St. Luke’s EG), Buck Close (St. George’s), Bill Locke (St. Paul’s, Pawtucket), Jennifer Pedrick (Epiphany), Modesta Pellot (St. George’s), Melody Shobe (Emmanuel, Cumberland), Susan Wright (Ascension, Cranston).
What are YOU hungry for – food and shelter – understanding - companionship and community – knowledge – truth and honesty – relationship with God - a way to recognize and share your own gifts? We look forward to growing in meeting the hunger in ourself and in those whom God is inviting us to feed.
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