NEWS and EVENTS

January 2012

• Obituary: The Reverend John Crocker Jr

The Reverend John Crocker, Jr. died on December 30, 2011. John Crocker was a much beloved rector of Trinity Church from 1977 to 1989. He was called to Trinity in 1977 from the Episcopal chaplaincy at MIT and served
until his retirement in 1989. His tenure included expanded outreach, consolidation of the many liturgical changes of the preceding years, and planning for facility improvements.

The funeral will be held on Monday January 9, 2012 at 2 pm, Christ Church, Zero Garden Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

A full obituary can be found here.

December 2011

• The Episcopal Election Committee for the Twelfth Bishop of New Jersey

Atlantic Convocation
Ms. Mary Lou Malone
The Reverend Martha M. McKee

Burlington Convocation
Mrs. Daryl Albury
The Reverend Jayne J. Oasin

Camden Convocation
Dr. Virgil Johnson
The Reverend Dr. Jeffrey M. Kirk

Monmouth Convocation
The Reverend Gail L. Bennett, Deacon
Mr. Edgar K. Byham

Northern Convocation
The Reverend Gregory  A. Bezilla
Ms. Carole Forsythe

Trenton Convocation
Mrs. Noreen L. Duncan
The Reverend Arthur P. Powell

Watchung Convocation
The Reverend Ronald N. Pollock
Mr. Richard Somerset-Ward

Woodbury Convocation
Ms. Donna Freidel
The Reverend Edmund W. Zelley

Ms. Deborah Schmidt, Chair (Monmouth Convocation)

The Reverend Canon Terrence W. Rosheuvel, Chaplain

The Very Reverend Ronald H. Clingenpeel, Consultant

• Fighting Poverty with Faith: Working together to end hunger

On November 30, Fighting Poverty with Faith held a multifaith event of prayer, information sharing, and a call to action in the New Jersey State House. The theme of this event was Working Together to End Hunger. The Diocese of Newark and the Diocese of New Jersey were among 30 groups that co-sponsored the event.

The program started with prayer led by the Reverend Darrell Armstrong, Shiloh Baptist Church, Trenton. Then representatives of the four major religions – Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism — gave brief presentations. Care for those who are less fortunate — social justice — is a mandate in each of these religions.

As the Reverend Bruce Davidson (Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry) said, sharing our material blessings with those who are poor “is the first and central message” of Paul’s letters and the Gospels. Rabbi Amy Small talked about how poverty can affect families for generations while the Jewish tradition calls us to strive for a just and righteous world. Care for the poor is a pillar of faith in each of the faith traditions of Islam and Hinduism.

Lori Griffa, representing Governor Christie, talked about the progress that has been made in funding nutrition and anti-poverty programs on both the executive and the legislative fronts. The good news is that the state will continue to fund the State Food Purchase Program to secure a supply of food for many of the pantries in our churches. In addition, the State will be supplying additional funds to purchase more nutritious food. The goal is for the food banks to purchase up to 30 percent of their supplies from Jersey Fresh. A representative from Senator Lautenberg’s office encouraged people to communicate to elected officials their concerns around hunger and nutrition.  This will keep these issues top-of-mind as new budgets are being drafted.

Adele Latourette (New Jersey Anti-Hunger Coalition) commented that more still needs to be done. While 1.1 million people in New Jersey are food insecure, only 800,000 actually qualify for benefits. While the average cost of a meal in New Jersey is $2.68, food stamps only cover $1.43, forcing people to purchase low-nutrition foods. While thousands of New Jersey students qualify for the USDA school meal programs, few are able to participate in the breakfast program when food is served at a time that students aren't present. So much has been done. There is so much left to do.

Calls to Action

We were reminded by the Reverend Lisanne Finston from Elijah’s Promise that we can't separate talking about our faith from acting on our faith. So three specific calls to action were announced.

First, walk in someone else’s shoes by taking the Food Stamp challenge. Join members of the Community Foodbank of New Jersey who will try living for a week on $31 of food per person which is the average food stamp benefit. This challenge is designed to help each of us realize how complicated it is to avoid hunger, afford nutritious foods, and stay healthy. See njfoodbank.org/challenge for more. 

Second, write, email, or phone your state and federal elected officials asking them to reject all proposals to cut and/or cap the various nutrition assistance programs on which our elderly and families in need rely. You can reach your elected officials through commoncause.org. As Episcopalians, we can find other ideas and resources at The Episcopal Network for Economic Justice (enej.org).

Finally, pray! Our prayer to “give us today our daily bread” can become a threshold to feeding all of our brothers and sisters around the world.

Diocesan Jubilee Office
Ted Foley, Advisor
Clara Gregory, Jubilee Officer

• From Bishop Councell to the Diocese of New Jersey

December 6, 2011
Nicholas of Myra

Dear Friends in Christ,

I write to share with you the news of some changes in our diocesan staff. After a long period of prayerful discernment, the Reverend Canon Lee Powers has decided to retire on March 1, 2012. He and his wife Nancy recently moved to south Jersey in order to live closer to their family in retirement. In God’s good time, Lee hopes to return to parish ministry.

I cannot begin to express my gratitude for Lee’s ministry in this office and among the clergy and congregations of our Diocese over the past seven and a half years. He has been a tireless advocate for our Church to recover its identity as a missionary society and to renew our commitment to proclaim the Gospel to all people. He has not only advocated for our common mission, he has enabled all manner of churches and ministers to live that mission together, across differences and distances. He has been an effective pastoral administrator in this office and all throughout the Diocese. We have been blessed by his pastoral wisdom, his practical skill, his labor and his laughter. He has been faithful and Christ – centered in all manner of things, both small and great. He will be greatly missed.

It is Lee’s request that there be no diocesan celebration focused on him and his ministry. While respecting his wishes, I encourage the clergy and people of the Diocese of New Jersey to express their thanksgiving for this servant of the servants of God. Do not withhold your applause, please.

I have the honor to announce, with the concurrence of the Standing Committee, two new staff appointments. The Reverend John W. Sosnowski, Rector of St. Mary’s, Stone Harbor, New Jersey, has accepted my appointment to serve as Canon to the Ordinary, effective February 13, 2012. Fr. Sosnowski has been Rector of St. Mary’s for 14 years. He and his wife Cynthia moved to this Diocese in 1997 from the Diocese of Connecticut, where John, as a Marriage and Family Therapist, served as Director of Treatment Services for seven years at The Children’s Home of Cromwell. He was received into the priesthood of The Episcopal Church in 1995, having served as a Roman Catholic priest from 1979 until 1988. During his tenure as Rector, St. Mary’s has grown in membership, improved its buildings and grounds, expanded its staff to include a part-time Assistant Rector and founded the Branches – a center for outreach ministries in Rio Grande – in partnership with St. Barnabas-by-the-Bay, Villas. He has fostered the growth of lay ministries and the hands-on outreach of the church has expanded greatly via St. Mary’s Thrift Shop and the outreach arm of the church called The Mustard Seed of Cape May County.

I am confident that John’s faith and gifts and experience are well-suited to the ministry of Canon to the Ordinary. His ministry will include serving as Chief of Staff, assisting the Bishop with the pastoral care and direction of clergy and lay leaders, leading efforts aimed at congregational development, representing the Bishop on various diocesan bodies, working with the CFO and other senior staff in the administration of the Diocese and attending to other duties as may be assigned.

I am grateful for Canon Sosnowski’s willingness to join me in caring for the Diocese, its clergy and congregations. I look forward to working with him over the next two years.

Another new appointment to our Senior Staff is no stranger to this office. I am happy to announce that I have appointed Cecilia Alvarez to be the Canon for Transition Ministry and Clergy Development, effective immediately.

Cecilia is well qualified for this ministry, having worked as Assistant Deployment Officer under Canon Elizabeth Geitz and under Canon Lee Powers over the past six years. Her work has included the full range of responsibilities for all aspects of the transition process in our Diocese (advising and directing clergy, wardens, vestries, self-study and discernment committees). She has also met monthly with the interim clergy of our Diocese, facilitated the work of the Transition Consultants, and published the monthly Transition Ministry Update.

Under the heading of Clergy Development, Cecilia has been deeply involved in the ordination processes of this Diocese. She has worked with the Co-Chairs and members of the Committee on the Priesthood and the Committee on the Diaconate. She has guided the nominees, sponsoring clergy and congregations through our processes and ensures compliance with our diocesan policies and canonical requirements. In addition, Cecilia has been the key staff person to organize our entire array of clergy days, our annual clergy conference, continuing education events, retreats and other clergy enrichment programs. She is prepared for this ministry with all of its challenges and responsibilities. I rejoice that Canon Alvarez will continue to exercise her ministry in this Diocese, for the building up of our clergy and congregations and the blessing of all God’s people.

I ask for your prayers as we go right onward to love and serve the Lord.

In Christ,
+George

The Right Reverend George E. Councell, D.D.
Bishop of New Jersey

November 2011

• From the Millennium Development Goals committee: Support the row!

At the last meeting of the Millennium Development Goals committee, Lou Cavaliere, one of the members, gave a moving presentation about human trafficking, which he has become active in fighting. Recently Lou met with a group of women who are planning to row across the Atlantic to raise money to support anti-trafficking efforts. He urged us to learn more about their cause, called 'Row for Freedom' — and about them.

The MDG committee applauds Lou's efforts; we see them as an example of what individual Episcopalians in the Diocese of New Jersey can do to advance the MDGs. We support ths Row For Freedom's group effort to raise funds and hope that many in the diocese will consider supporting this quite extraordinary undertaking for a most worthy goal! Read on to learn more.

The Diocesan MDG Task Force Urges Response to Human Trafficking
By Lou Cavaliere

Almost everyone is familiar with the hymn "Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound". But most people do not know the author of the hymn or why that hymn was written. The author was a man by the name of John Newton, a sea captain in the British Navy in the late 1700's. After a brief tour of duty on Royal Navy ships, he was assigned to the merchant navy slave trade to transport slaves from Africa to the Caribbean and North America. He took this assignment with a sense of duty very much the way that I approached my career as a captain in the United States Navy. Newton was initially blind to the horrors of slavery, just as I was unaware of how slavery continues today.

Through God's unbelievable and great mercy, John Newton's eyes were opened. He was led by the Lord on a great mission that started by his leaving the slave trade and returning to England where he gave his life to Christ and became an Anglican priest. His mission continued as a great preacher and as a spiritual mentor to William Wilberforce who led the political movement in Parliament to abolish the slave trade and to emancipate all slaves in the British Empire. This eventually led to emancipation of slaves in the USA in 1863. As such, we all owe a great debt to John Newton because his message and his song "Amazing Grace" continues to resonate with us today.

Like John Newton, now that my eyes are open to the current day slave trade I cannot help but do my part in trying to eradicate it. The problem is greater than ever before, and I urge you to support a group that is taking action. Row for Freedom aims to raise awareness about the modern-day slavery. Human trafficking results primarily from the illegal trade of people for the purpose of forced labor and sexual exploitation. An estimated 27 million people are enslaved worldwide and approximately half of these are children.*

In an effort to increase worldwide awareness of human trafficking, an all-female international team that aims to make history is rowing across the Atlantic Ocean in December. Following a route similar to Christopher Columbus’ maiden voyage, the journey is prepared to set a record as the first, all-female crew of six to row 3000 miles unaided across the Atlantic. This row will start on December 4, 2011. It needs our support to spread the word about the scourge of human trafficking, it requires all our prayers — and it requires our financial support.

Please support this life-giving effort at rowforfreedom.com and learn more at one of the websites listed below or contact me, Lou Cavaliere, directly at captainusn@comcast.net.

Row for Freedom Facts

• This will be the first female crew of six to attempt to row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean unaided.
• It should take 35-45 days, from La Gomera (Canary Islands) to Barbados.
• The team will carry all the food and equipment needed for a successful crossing.
• The race starts in early December to coincide with the end of the hurricane season and to get the most benefit from the easterly trade winds and Atlantic currents.
• There is no room onboard for home comforts: limited bathroom and cooking facilities. The team’s diet will consist of high-calorie expedition foods and snacks. They will drink desalinated water and sleep in a space smaller than a single bed.
  

Human Trafficking Web Resources

• The A21 Campaign: thea21campaign.org
• Ecpat UK: ecpat.org.uk
• Joy.Org: joy.org
• Free the Slaves: freetheslaves.net
• The Project to End Human Trafficking: endhumantrafficking.org

*According to Free the Slaves, an international non-governmental organization based in Washington, D.C.

September 2011

• From Bishop Councell

October 21, 2011

Dear Friends in Christ,

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I write to inform you that, after prayer and consultation with family, friends and advisors, I intend to resign the office of Bishop of New Jersey and retire in the fall of 2013.

Please be assured that no crisis or sudden deterioration in my health has driven me to this decision. By the grace of our God I plan to continue to serve as your Bishop for at least the next two years -that is, until I complete ten years in this ministry and reach the age of sixty-four. Since the process leading to the call and consecration of a new bishop usually takes eighteen to twenty-four months, I hereby call for the election of the Twelfth Bishop of New Jersey. Note that this call is for the election of a diocesan bishop to succeed me immediately upon her or his consecration and not for a coadjutor bishop.

I have informed our Presiding Bishop of these plans and the Standing Committee and I have recently consulted with the Rt Reverend F. Clayton Matthews, Bishop for Pastoral Development Guided by our Constitution and Canons and with such help and consultation as the Standing Committee may seek from the Office of Pastoral Development, we are beginning an orderly transition to a new chapter in the history of our Diocese under the care of a new chief shepherd. Information about next steps in the episcopal election process will soon be forthcoming from the Standing Committee.

My heart is filled with gratitude to God and to the Church for calling me to be your Bishop eight years ago. It has been both more challenging and more blessed than I could have ever imagined. I look forward to these next two years with you all as we love and follow Jesus Christ together and continue "Right Onward" in mission for His sake.

Lord, in your mercy, make New Jersey new. Amen.

Faithfully yours in Christ,

The Right Reverend George E. Councell, D.D.
Bishop of New Jersey

• From Dean John

October 21, 2011

My dear Sisters and Brothers,

The Standing Committee was informed by Bishop Councell, our dear Bishop of his intention to retire in October 2013.

For everything to proceed in good order he is calling for the election of a new Diocesan Bishop in Spring 2013.

We, the members of the Standing Committee, duly informed, met with Bishop Clay Matthews, Bishop for Pastoral Development, to get an understanding as to what is required of us going forward.

Bishop Matthews was very instructive and we are prepared along with Bishop Councell and the Diocese of New Jersey to move "Right Onward".

We are fully aware that all of us will have many questions. Please be patient and stay tuned for regular updates as to where we go from here; keep our beloved Diocese and Bishop in your prayers.

Disturb us Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us Lord, when with the abundance of the things we possess we have lost the thirst for the water of life.

Stir us Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery, where losing sight of land we will find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hope, and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope and love. Amen. (Attributed, Sir Francis Drake, 1577)

Yours in Christ,

The Very Reverend René R. John
Standing Committee President

September 2011

• Obituary: The Very Reverend Charles Preston Wiles

The Very Reverend Dr Charles Preston Wiles, 93, died in Dallas, Texas on Saturday, 3 September 2011. He was rector of Saint Mary's Church, Burlington, from 1951 through 1964, transferring at that time to the Diocese of Dallas to become dean of Saint Matthew's Cathedral in Dallas. He remained in that position until his retirement in 1987.

The funeral service for Dr. Wiles will be at St. Matthew's Cathedral, Dallas, at 11 am on Saturday, 10 September.

The full obituary can be found here in the Dallas News.

August 2011

• Obituary: The Reverend Harry Robert Ripson

The Reverend Harry Robert Ripson, 77, died on Thursday, 11 August 2011, in Clearwater, Florida.

Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on February 9, 1933, he was the son of Hugh Robert and Helen Mae Ripson. Attending the University of Maryland, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1970. In 1979, he was awarded a Master of Divinity from Nashotah Seminary and later an MA from the University of Dallas in 1980.

He was ordained to the Sacred Order of Deacons by the Right Reverend A. Donald Davies, Bishop of Dallas, in August 1979 and to the priesthood by the Right Reverend Robert Elwin Terwilliger, Suffragan Bishop of Dallas, in June 1980.

Father Ripson began his ministry as a curate at the Church of the Annunciation in Lewisville, Texas in 1979. In 1984, he moved to Louisiana and accepted a position as rector of a parish there, later that year returning to Texas and serving in a number of capacities in the Diocese of Dallas. In 1989, he transferred to the Diocese of Newark and served as interim rector at Trinity Church, Montclair; St Mark’s, West Orange; and St John the Divine in Hasbrouck Heights.

In 1995, Father Ripson was called as interim rector to Christ Church, Shrewsbury, in the Diocese of New Jersey, the diocese in which where the remainder of his ministry would be spent. In 1997, he became interim rector of Holy Trinity Church, in South River, New Jersey, later that year being appointed special assistant to the bishop of the Diocese of New Jersey. He served under Bishop Doss and then under Assisting Bishop Herbert Donovan and Assisting Bishop David Joslin until his retirement in 2002.

Father Ripson became a tertiary of the Society of Saint Francis in 1976.

Robert Ripson and Bernice Beth Austin were married on July 3, 1987. He is survived by his wife and four children.

The Reverend Robert Ripson will be buried in Arlington Cemetery. A memorial service will be held in this area at a later time, at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers his family suggests that donations be made to the Moslah Shrine (Shriners International), Hospital Fund Drive, PO Box 1320, Ft Worth, Texas 76101.

Archives of earlier news

Click the year that interests you to go to that section.

2011 (January through July)
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2003-2004

Last updated: 4 January 2012
http://newjersey.anglican.org
©The Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey