Refugees Celebrated

Sent in By: Alice Edinger from the Interfaith Refugee Ministry

Local refugees, together with their food, crafts, artwork, and musical talent were showcased Saturday, June 20^th during the Third Annual

World Refugee Day celebration at the local Farmer’s Market in New Bern, North C

arolina.  From 8:00 am until 1:00 pm, refugees came out in large numbers with their ethnic foods for public tasting, as well as to share their talent as they danced and sang for many people from surrounding communities who came to appreciate the refugees’ heritage and musical talent.

Hope in the Dominican Republic

By: The Rev. A. Michael Singer

At the end of April, I, along with three other individuals from the Diocese of East Carolina, spent a week in the Dominican Republic.  The purpose of the trip was to explore a companion relationship between the Diocese of East Carolina and the Episcopal Church in the Dominican Republic.

Ubuntu and You: A Young Adult Perspective on General Convention

Posted By: Jake Melnyk

I am not a person who sleeps before trips.  The excitement of travel, especially to a new destination always captivates me and leaves me too fueled with energy to even consider the idea.  Reading my status updates on Facebook in the early morning on Sunday July 5, anyone could clearly see I was more than excited for my upcoming adventure to California, a mission to learn more about the inner-workings of our church and to manifest Ubuntu theology by living, learning, and worshiping together in a community of more than 15,000 Episcopal clergy, youth, young adults, and lay deputies.

The Infinity of Welcome

From Deacon David Crabtree of the Diocese of North Carolina and longtime friend of East Carolina Episcopalians (not to mention his work in broadcasting):

Across the front of the gigantic Anaheim Convention Center is a gigantic banner.
I’ve seen the message hundreds of times before yet this time the words lept toward me.
The leaping came because of the size of the words. The size of the words. Not the size of the lettering.
“The Episcopal Church welcomes You.” Only five words. Five words with profound meaning.

We, as Episcopalians have struggled, are struggling and will continue to struggle with exactly who and what we are, where we’ve been and where we’re going and more importantly what are we called to do and how are we answering. These questions and their ultimate diverse answers are welcomed into our magnificent, if sometimes quirky spiritual sanctuary known as the Episcopal Church.

Three Stages of GC

a word from neighboring Bishop and friend to East Carolina, The Rt Rev’d Porter Taylor, Bishop of Western North Carolina

I have found that the General Convention has three stages: the greeting, the great bewilderment, and the convergence. These happen over the ten days, but they also happen within one day or even one meeting. First is about meeting. We see old friends; we meet new friends. It’s like going to college as a freshman. You find your dorm and your classes, and figure out who all these other people are and who you are in relation to them. This part has been wonderful. Being on a Legislative Committee means you work very hard with strangers and you become a community over the Convention.