Spring 2011

Courses and Events 
By audience
By date
Descriptions

Like a one-page flyer with an overview of all offerings as a PDF? Click here.
Prefer a complete catalogue as a PDF? Click here.

Register online
Most courses offer online registration. You'll find a link to do so in each course description below.

Register by mail
General registration form (PDF)
Supplemental registration form Sexual Misconduct Awareness Workshops or Anti-Racism Training (PDF)
Deacons Retreat registration form (PDF)

Need help with registration?
For assistance with online or paper registration, contact Sarah Paige toll free at 1 877 394-5281 ext. 10 or by email at spaige@newjersey.anglican.org

Want to get to Trenton by rail or bus?
Here are all your options, including a personal trip-planning link

Need help?
General contact information for the Ministry Institute

Spring 2011
COURSES and EVENTS by AUDIENCE

For All

Absalom Jones Service of Witness to Black Ministries
Acolyte Festival
Adults who Work with Youth Workshops
Almost Christian: A Wake-Up Call for the Church — Christian Educators' Day with Bishop Councell
Analyzing and Understanding Systemic Racism: Introductory and Advanced Training (2.5 day workshop)
Annual Diocesan Recovery Sunday Service
A Day of Godly Play
Lenten Retreat: The Experience of God in African Spirituality
Living into the Millennium Development Goals
One Book! Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers Is Telling the American Church
Passion & Purpose Sunday
Radical Welcome Evangelism Conference (Province II event)
Sexual Misconduct Awareness Workshops  

For Laity

Discerning a Call to the Priesthood
Discovering Your God-Given Gifts for Service
New Testament 2

For Young Adults

A Retreat for Young Adults: Reviving the Weary Heart

For Parish Leaders

Clergy, Wardens, Vestry, and Finance Officers Day

For the Clergy

Calling all Clergy: The New Ministry Portfolio
Clergy Day at the Beach and Fresh Start Party
Clergy Lenten Retreat: Entering the Dwelling Places of the Soul
Epiphany Clergy Day
Deacons Retreat

For Youth and Youth Ministers

52nd Bishop’s Ball
Spring Youth Event
Senior Retreat

Adults Who Work With Youth Workshops

Spring 2011
COURSES and EVENTS by DATE

Spring 2011
COURSES and EVENTS in chronological order, with description

January - June 2011
One Book!
Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church

The Committee on Lifelong Christian Formation invites everyone in the Diocese of New Jersey to read and discuss one book in 2011: Kenda Creasy Dean’s Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teens is Telling the American Church. Read Almost Christian as a parish, ministry, convocation, clericus, diocesan committee etc. Discuss it in a parish book club, adult education class, Sunday morning forum, study group, and so on.

Almost Christian investigates why American teenagers are at once so positive about Christianity and at the same time so apathetic about genuine religious practice. Dean found that the most committed young Christians shared four important traits: they could tell a personal and powerful storyabout God; they belonged to a significant faith community; they exhibited a sense of vocation; and they possessed a profound sense of hope. Based on these findings, Dean proposes an approach to Christian education that places the idea of mission at its core and offers a wealth of concrete suggestions for inspiring teens to live more authentically engaged Christian lives.

One Book! kicks off with a special event featuring the author Kenda Creasy Dean on January 22 at Trinity Cathedral. Register here.

For more information, including a study guide and discussion questions: newjersey.anglican.org/onebook.html  Questions? Contact the Reverend Gregory Bezilla, 732 932-1278 or bezilla@rci.rutgers.edu

Sponsored by the Committee on Lifelong Christian Formation.

January 12 or February 16 (for clergy)

Leader: Cecilia Alvarez, Assistant Transition Ministry Officer, Diocese of New Jersey

Great news! The CDO Profile, with its strange codes and frustrating format, is going away. You will now be asked to complete a Ministry Portfolio that will be easier for you to create and update.

Your Ministry Portfolio will be an online document that presents an extensive picture of your ministry and skills. All priests, deacons and retirees are invited to complete Ministry Portfolios. For some, the new Portfolio may be challenging to navigate at first. So the diocese is offering some time and space to help you become familiar with the format of your Ministry Portfolio.

You may bring a copy of your CDO Profile or request one when you register to attend, so that you have accurate information to enter into Ministry Portfolio. Please bring a personal laptop or portable computer. A small number of laptops will be available to those who are not able to bring their own.

Sponsored by the Diocese of New Jersey.

New Testament 2 (for laity and clergy)
January 15, 29
February 12, 26
March 12, 26
April 9, 30

Leader: The Reverend Terence Blackburn, Rector, St. John the Baptist, Linden, New Jersey

Given in conjunction with the School for Deacons of the Diocese, this course is for the laity, students in the School for Deacons, and deacons. This survey of the Gospels provides the tools to engage the texts critically from an historical and literary perspective while holding to them as documents born of faith and for the nurturing of faith.

The Reverend Terence Blackburn, Rector of St. John the Baptist in Linden, New Jersey, has served the diocese in a number of capacities for nearly 20 years. In addition to New Testament, he has taught Christology and Baptism and Eucharist in the diocese’s School for Deacons. Before becoming a priest, Father Blackburn was employed in the classical music industry, working for the Opera Company of Boston, the Spoleto Festival and Edgar Vincent Associates, a classical music press agency.

Epiphany Clergy Day
January 20 (for clergy)

Leader: The Right Reverend George E. Councell D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of New Jersey

Sponsored by the Clergy Day Planning Committee.

George Edward Councell graduated from the University of California, Riverside and from the Episcopal Divinity School. For two years he served as Vicar of Grace, Colton and St. Luke’s, Fontana, California. In 1977, he became the first rector at St. George’s, Riverside, California. In 1986 he was called to the Diocese of Western Massachusetts to serve as Canon to the Ordinary and then in 1995, to be the ninth Rector of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Lake Forest, Illinois. In 2003, he was elected the Eleventh Bishop of the Diocese of New Jersey.

Almost Christian A Wake-Up Call for the Church: Christian Educators' Day with Bishop Councell
January 22 (for all)

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Kenda Creasy Dean, Professor of Youth, Church, and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary and author of Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is telling the American Church

What faith are we as adults teaching our children and youth: a transformative, passionate, radical commitment to Christ, or a watered-down, in cultured, feel good faith whose main focus is on forming nice people who think of God as a ‘nice guy’? The latter may be why the 2005 National Study of Youth and Religion revealed that many of our youth are “at once so positive about Christianity and at the same time so apathetic about genuine religious practice.” How did our youth get this way? Because, as Kenda Creasy Dean states in her latest book, “this is what we have taught them in church . . . the cult of nice is so much safer; God is friendly and predictable, offering little and asking less.”

Join us as we welcome Dr. Kenda Creasy Dean, author of Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church, as she outlines how we have gotten to this “Cult of Nice” with its “good enough Christians”, and in what is needed to bring us back to “communities where holiness — not niceness — rules the day”. Enter into honest discussion with Dr. Dean and fellow participants about how we can “inspire our teens (and ourselves) to live more authentically engaged Christian lives.” We encourage all — lay and clergy, parents and teachers, leaders of both adult and youth education — to come and enter into this conversation.

The first 100 registrants to this event will receive a complimentary copy of Kenda Creasy Dean’s book, Almost Christian: What the Faith of our Teenagers is telling the American Church, courtesy of a grant from the Right Onward Visioning Committee. See the One Book web page: newjersey.anglican.org/onebook.html

Sponsored by the Committee on Lifelong Christian Formation.

Kenda Creasy Dean is an ordained elder in the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference (United Methodist) and professor of youth, church, and culture at Princeton Theological Seminary, where she works closely with the Institute for Youth Ministry. A graduate of Wesley Theological Seminary, she served as Wesley Foundation director at the University of Maryland-College Park before coming to Princeton Seminary.

She is the author of many books, including Practicing Passion: Youth and the Quest for a Passionate Church; The God-bearing Life: The Art of Soul-Tending for Youth Ministry; and her latest publication, Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church.

Workshops: Adults who Work with Youth
February 9 and April 13

Discerning a Call to the Priesthood
February 12 and May 14 (for laity)

Leaders: Members of the Committee on the Priesthood; Members of the Parish Committee on Ministry, Trinity Church, Princeton, New Jersey (at the Princeton site)

Are you considering the priesthood in The Episcopal Church? Learn about the discernment process and how to get started. Representatives of the diocesan Committee on the Priesthood and, in Princeton, the Trinity Church Parish Committee on Ministry will walk through the steps leading to the priesthood and answer questions about priestly vocation in The Episcopal Church.

This informative event is open and free to all. Youth and college students are encouraged to attend.

Sponsored by the Committee on the Priesthood and the Parish Committee on the Ministry, Trinity Church, Princeton (at the Princeton site)

11th Annual Acolyte Festival
February 12 (for all)

Leaders: The Acolyte Festival Committee

The Diocesan Acolyte Festival offers the acolytes of your parish an opportunity for fellowship and learning in a daylong celebration of their ministry. Workshops, balloons, bubbles and a special celebration of the Eucharist will make this a day to remember. The celebration of the Holy Eucharist, in the cathedral, will close the festival.

All groups are requested to bring vestments, banners, processional crosses, torches, kites, and thuribles or whatever you use in procession (Don't forget to bring stands if you have them.). Parents of acolytes and guests are welcome to join the closing service, which will begin at 2 pm. An opportunity to serve in the liturgy will be offered to sixteen young people attending the festival. Seven other young people will be given the chance to serve as ushers or readers. The training/preparation session for the service will take place during the afternoon workshop session.

Sponsored by the Acolyte Festival Committee.

Absalom Jones Service of Witness to Black Ministries
February 13 (for all)

The Reverend Absalom Jones

Chief Officiant: The Right Reverend George E. Councell D.D., Bishop, Diocese of New Jersey

This annual service commemorates the life and work of the first Black person to be ordained in the Episcopal Church. It is meant to shed light on and celebrate all the ministries of people of color in our diocese. The music will be uplifting and celebratory. It's guaranteed to be a joyous service.

This event is sponsored by the Black Clergy Caucus and the Earl B. Scott Chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians (UBE).

George E. Councell, born in Detroit in 1949, was ordained deacon and priest in 1975. He was consecrated the Eleventh Bishop of the Diocese of New Jersey on October 18, 2003.

He is Vice-President of Province II and serves on the Board of Trustees of General Theological Seminary, the Presiding Bishop’s Council of Advice, and the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget, and Finance.

Living into the Millennium Development Goals
February 19 and April 9 (for all)

Leaders: The Reverend Lisa E. Caton and Aline Haynes

This interactive workshop will deepen participants’ understanding of how they’re called individually and as part of their parish community to respond to the issue of extreme global poverty. The program includes a DVD on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), personal and congregational discernment exercises, ways to become engaged, and information about Episcopal organizations working toward the eradication of extreme poverty.

Sponsored by the Diocesan Millennium Development Goals Task Force.

The Reverend Lisa Caton and Aline Haynes have been actively involved for year in issues related to the MDGs. They serve as Co-Chairpersons of the MDG Task Force, which originated under their leadership, and also serve as the Diocesan Co-Coordinators for Episcopal Relief and Development.

Sexual Misconduct Awareness Workshops
Various dates from February through June (for all)

Leaders: The Reverend Dr. Henrietta L. Lavengood; The Reverend Charles Lochner; The Reverend Dr. Paul S. Rimassa, Trinity Church, Rocky Hill; or the Reverend Peter Stimpson, Associate, St. Matthew’s Church, Pennington, and Priest-in-Charge, Holy Trinity Chapel, Spring Lake

Sexual abuse of children and sexual exploitation and harassment of all persons are covered. Required every five years for clergy, wardens, employees, and anyone regularly working with or around children or youth, it’s recommended for personnel occasionally working with or around children or youth. See Respecting the Dignity of Every Human Being (PDF).

Sponsored by the Pastoral Response Team of the Diocese of New Jersey.

One-day workshops from 9 am to 3 pm are offered at the following places and dates:

Deacons Retreat
February 25-27 (for clergy)

Sponsored by the Deacons’ Council, this is the annual retreat weekend for deacons in the diocese. This is a time together for prayer and peace, self-care, sharing, rest and renewal.

Clergy Lenten Retreat: Entering the Dwelling Places of the Soul
March 6-8 (for clergy)

Leader: The Reverend Suzanne Guthrie, The Community of the Holy Spirit, Melrose Convent, Brewster, New York

Saint Teresa of Avila begins her great work of mysticism, The Interior Castle, with this image:

It came to me that the soul is like a castle made exclusively of diamond or some other very clear crystal. In this castle are a multitude of dwellings, just as in heaven there are many mansions. . . . this castle has many dwellings: some above, some below, others to either side. And the center is the most important dwelling of them all where the most secret things unfold between the soul and her Beloved.

During our time together, we will explore the maze of dwelling places along the path toward union with the Beloved. Each dwelling place is in itself a rich world to explore and inhabit, where gifts may be discovered to give to one another and the church, even in the darkest nights of the soul.

Sponsored by the Clergy Day Planning Committee.

Discovering Your God-Given Gifts for Service
March 11, 18, 25, April 1, 8, 15 (for laity)

Leaders: Constance L. White, Co-Director, Ministry Institute, Diocese of New Jersey, Katherine Young, experienced leader of seminars on gifts discernment

Have you ever wondered: “What are my talents for ministry? How can I put my God-given gifts to good use in my parish and in the world?” Then this workshop is for you!

First, discover what the Bible has to say about spiritual gifts and then, through a series of questions, gauge your innate talents and proclivities. Afterwards you’ll use tools to reveal your strengths and interests. Finally, you’ll see how to apply those strengths and interests to action in your parish and in the world. You may find some surprising results!

If you’ve done such an analysis in the past, don't be hesitant to try this again. Our talents and interests change with time and with our situation in life.

Constance L. White is the Co-Director of the Ministry Institute. She has served the Diocese of New Jersey on the Commission on Ministry since 1997 and as Co-Chair since 2002. She also serves on the Board of General Theological Seminary and the Vestry of Trinity, Princeton. Ms. White retired from Educational Testing Service in 2005 as Director of Scholarship and Recognition Programs. In the community, she has been Chair of Board of the Trenton Community Music School and is a member of The Links, Inc. and Chair of the Services to Youth Committee

Katherine Young is a cradle Episcopalian and a nearly lifelong member of St. Luke’s Church, Metuchen. She is a Cursillista, having been a candidate of NY Cursillo #85. She is a member of the adult choir, a lay Eucharistic minister, the lay ministry schedule-keeper, a vestry member of St. Luke’s. She has conducted similar workshops at her parish and through the Ministry Institute. She is a research scientist at Merck, where she attempts to discover new antibiotics while studying antibiotic resistance mechanisms.

Lenten Retreat: The Experience of God in African Spirituality
March 12 (for all)

Leaders: The Reverend Canon Martin Oguike, Vicar, St. John’s Church, Woodbridge, New Jersey; The Reverend C. John Thompson-Quartey, Rector, St. Mary’s-by-the-Sea, Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey; The Reverend Dr. Augustine Unuigbe, Rector, St. Augustine’s Church, Atlantic City, New Jersey

Martin Oguike	C. John Thompson-Quartey	Augustine Unuigbe

Come for a day centered in the Daily Office and for a Holy Eucharist with African music. There will be four sessions focused upon worship, meditation, community life, and healing. The retreat will provide witness, advocacy, and prayer for justice for the people of Sudan and Darfur in this continued time of crisis and war. You will learn from teachers of African spirituality and prayer.

This retreat supports the new campaign by The Episcopal Church, “A Season of Prayer for Sudan”, which is committed to the welfare of Sudan, its Episcopal Church, and the country's future.

Sponsored by the Sudan/Darfur Committee.

The Reverend Canon Martin Oguike is the vicar of St. John's Church, Woodbridge. Canon Oguike was born and raised in Nigeria, West Africa. He completed his undergraduate work in Birmingham University, UK. He holds a Master of Philosophy degree in Theology from the University of Birmingham, UK, and a Ph.D. in Church History from the University of Port-Harcourt, Nigeria. Canon Oguike lived through a genocidal civil war in Nigeria similar to the situation in Sudan/Darfur from 1967-1970 on which his dissertation on “The Role of the Church in the Nigerian Civil War” is based.

The Reverend C. John Thompson-Quartey is a native of Ghana, West Africa. He received his Bachelor of Science from Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey in 1993, and earned his Master of Divinity from the General Theological Seminary, New York City, NY in 1997. He was ordained to the diaconate in May 1997, and to the Sacred Order of Priests in December of 1997. He served as Associate Rector for Youth and Family Ministries at Christ Episcopal Church in Ridgewood, NJ from 1997 until 1999. Then as Chaplain for Pastoral Care and Director of Community Outreach Program at St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire from 1999 until July 2005. He is presently the Rector of St. Mary’s-by-the-Sea in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, where he has served since 2005.

The Reverend Dr. Augustine Unuigbe is the Priest-in-Charge at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Atlantic City. He is both a priest and a medical doctor, and has recently passed his medical boards in the United States.

A Retreat for Young Adults: Reviving the Weary Heart
March 26 (for young adults)

Leaders: The Reverend Gregory Bezilla, Chaplain, Episcopal Campus Ministry at Rutgers University, based at Canterbury House, New Brunswick and The Reverend Dr. Deborah Meister, Rector, Christ Church, New Brunswick

Jesus said, “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” And yet, so often we feel worn thin, pulled in too many directions, and paralyzed by choice. Come take a day apart to spend some time with God. Pray the psalms with other young adults and listen for the Christ-centered call that will make our hearts whole.

Sponsored by the Committee on the Priesthood.

The Reverend Gregory Bezilla is Chaplain of the Episcopal Campus Ministry at Rutgers University, based at Canterbury House in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He has served as a parish priest and a hospital chaplain. He is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University, and Emory University.

The Reverend Dr. Deborah Meister is Rector of Christ Church, New Brunswick. Raised in a Jewish household, she trained to be an English professor, earning her doctorate in Renaissance literature, but converted to Christianity when she was 27 and further entered the ordination process.

She has served in parishes in Alabama and New Jersey, and has a passion for multi-cultural ministry, spiritual formation, small-group ministry, and hands-on work with those in need. When she is not working, Deborah loves to cook, hike, and read. She has a passion for classical music and Japanese art.

A Day of Godly Play
March 26 (for all)

Leaders: Dawn Stewart, Director of Christian Education at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Lower Merion, Pennsylvania and the Reverend Emily Griffin, Associate Rector, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Pennington

This daylong workshop offers both an introduction to Godly Play and a refresher for those already using this method of spiritual formation. After experiencing a complete Godly Play session, we will examine issues of classroom management and teacher roles, learn techniques for deepening wondering and art response with different age groups, and explore the use of Godly Play with older children.

Sponsored by the Committee on Lifelong Christian Formation.

Dawn Stewart, an Associate in Ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is the Director of Christian Education at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lower Merion, Pennsylvania. For more than a dozen years, Dawn has been teaching, introducing, playing with adults and children and growing in Godly Play.

Emily Griffin is the Associate Rector of St. Matthew’s Church in Pennington, New Jersey and was accredited as the first Godly Play Trainer in the Diocese in August 2007.

Clergy, Wardens, Vestry, and Finance Officers Day
April 2 (for all)

Leaders: Pattie Christensen, Assistant Vice President, Church Pension Fund; The Right Reverend George E. Councell, D.D., Bishop, Diocese of New Jersey; Phyllis Jones, Chief Financial Officer, Diocese of New Jersey; Rose G. Lawson, Regional Relationship Specialist, Province II and V, Episcopal Church Medical Trust; Dorothy-Jane C. Porpeglia Esq., Attorney, Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP, New York

What do we need to know about the resolutions of General Convention that require all dioceses to participate in the Denominational Health Plan and provide health insurance and pensions for lay employees who meet certain criteria? Come hear Rose Lawson of the Church Medical Trust and Pattie Christensen from the Church Pension Fund address these matters. In the afternoon our Chief Financial officer, Phyllis Jones, will provide help for planning your annual audit, and Province II Chancellor and labor law attorney Dorothy-Jane C. Porpeglia will address matters of labor law that all employers, including churches, need to know.

Rose Lawson	Pattie Christensen	Phyllis Jones	Dorothy Porpeglia

These annual events are particularly helpful to lay leaders who were recently elected at annual meetings to serve their congregations. For more information, download a one-page flyer (PDF).

Rose G. Lawson joined the Medical Trust in September 2008 after serving as director of administration for more than seven years at St. Bartholomew's in New York City. She has also worked as director of finance and administration for nonprofit organizations associated with Mt. Sinai Hospital and Columbia University. She earned an M.S. in Nonprofit Management from NYU.

Pattie Christensen is a member of a team responsible for implementing Resolution A138, a Church-wide Lay Pension System. She is responsible for educating employers on the lay plans available through the Church Pension Fund, plus any asset transfers from previous plan providers into the Episcopal Church Lay Employees’ Defined Contribution Plan. She received her life/health agent license and is a graduate of the College for Financial Planning. Pattie has been with the Church Pension Group since 1993.

Phyllis Jones began serving the Diocese of New Jersey as Chief Financial Officer on July 1, 2010. Prior to that, she spent 10 years as a CPA in public practice in New Jersey, followed by 10 years in private industry as Director of Accounting and then CFO for a privately owned company. During that time she served two terms on the Audit Committee of the Diocese of New Jersey, numerous terms on the Audit Committee of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Pennington, and two terms on the Finance Committee for the Delaware-Raritan Girl Scout Council. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of two NJ non-profits, the Battle Against Hunger, Inc. and Urban Promise Ministries, advising both on 501c3 financial, accounting and compliance issues.

Dorothy-Jane C. Porpeglia Esq., a New York attorney, practices out of the Albany firm of Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP. She advises both private and public sector clients on a wide range of labor and employment, corporate and education law issues.

Ms. Porpeglia serves as Chancellor of Province II, and chairs the Executive Council Task Force (A&F093) that is conducting a comprehensive review of the human resources practices of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society. She was instrumental in creating and drafting The Employee Handbook Template, a Church Pension Group/Church Insurance Companies resource for use in conjunction with the Guide to Human Resources Practices for Lay Employees in Episcopal Churches.

Annual Diocesan Recovery Sunday Service
April 3 (for all)

Celebrant: The Very Reverend René Rory John, Dean, Trinity Cathedral, Trenton; Preacher and Leader: The Right Reverend George E. Councell D.D., Bishop, Diocese of New Jersey

Recovery Sunday worship reflects the help and friendship, hope and courage that all in recovery are privileged to enjoy. As a service of the Diocese of New Jersey, our liturgy reflects Christian tradition as expressed in The Episcopal Church. At the same time, please know that all who seek a deeper relationship with the God of their understanding are honored here as we express a collective attitude of gratitude to the higher power of all.

This celebration is offered in thanksgiving for the many 12-step groups who gather within the walls of our congregations from week to week and for the precious gift of recovery we share with millions around the world.

Sponsored by the Recovery Ministries Committee.

The Right Reverend George Councell is an enthusiastic advocate for all within the recovery community. Early on in his episcopate, Bishop Councell initiated the formation of the Recovery Ministries Committee of the diocese. This committee’s sole purpose is the wholeness of all who are affected by the disease of alcoholism or other drug dependency. Under Bishop Councell’s compassionate leadership, our committee has been empowered to be proactive in addressing a variety of individual and congregational needs through education, intervention, suggestion and referral. In addition, he laid the groundwork for our diocesan Policy on Alcohol Use at Church Functions, which effectively addresses the needs of the recovery community and the health and safety of all. We continue to be blessed with Bishop Councell’s unflagging support and are deeply privileged to welcome him as our friend and preacher for this Fourth Recovery Sunday of the Diocese of New Jersey.

The Very Reverend René John has been the Dean of Trinity Cathedral, Trenton since 2007. A priest for 22 years, he was ordained in the Diocese of Trinidad and Tobago, ministering there for six years before moving to New York in 1989. He served at St. Thomas’ in Brooklyn, a parish with 20 different nations represented among its members.

In Trinidad and Tobago and in New York, Fr. René served on various diocesan committees: Diocesan Council, Department of Stewardship, Department of Budget, Programs and Services, and the Commission on Ministry.

A graduate of Codrington College and the University of the West Indies, he is completing a Masters in Sacred Theology at General Theological Seminary.

Analyzing and Understanding Systemic Racism: Introductory and Advanced Training (2.5 days)
April 29 - May 1 (for all)

Leaders: Crossroads Anti-Racism professional instructors

This workshop is designed to acquaint participants with the reality of systemic racism and how it still permeates our society, tending to promote a sense of internalized racial superiority in whites and internalized racial inferiority in persons of color.

Crossroads Anti-Racism organizing was founded in 1986 as an effort to develop new directions in understanding and combating the root causes of racism in the United States. Crossroads trains teams within institutions, helping them to analyze racism and to develop and implement strategies to dismantle racism within their structures. Crossroads training begins with the ability to analyze systemic racism.

Radical Welcome Evangelism Conference (Province II)
May 5–6 (for all)

Primary Facilitator: The Reverend Stephanie Spellers, Minister for Radical Welcome, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, Massachusetts

A two-day conference focused on engaging attendees to reach out to people in new and exciting new ways in hopes of attracting more people to hear and live with our Lord’s gospels. Special attention will be given to young adults and genXers. Sponsored by Province II Congregational Development Network.

The Reverend Stephanie Spellers is the Minister for Radical Welcome at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston, where she founded The Crossing, an emergent worship gathering at the Cathedral by and for people usually held at the margins of mainline church life — especially young adults, seekers, the poor, gay and lesbian people and people of color.

A consultant and workshop leader and a member of the Episcopal Church’s Commission on Domestic Mission and Evangelism, she has traveled the country studying and supporting communities seeking to live into the radical welcome vision.

The Rev. Ms. Spellers earned her bachelor's degree in religious studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and holds master's degrees from Harvard Divinity School and the Episcopal Divinity School. Prior to her ordination, she served as a religion reporter at the Knoxville News-Sentinel in Tennessee.

Passion & Purpose Sunday
May 8 (for all)

An intentional day for preaching, teaching, testimony, and theological reflection about vocation: claiming and expressing a passion and purpose for our lives as friends and followers of Jesus Christ.

Ultimately, Passion & Purpose Sunday is about renewing a sense of vocation for all Christians. The diocese is supplying resources and ideas for clergy, church school teachers and youth leaders, including preaching helps, lesson plans, and aids for personal reflection at passionandpurpose.info.

Sponsored by the Committee on the Priesthood.

Clergy Day at the Beach and Fresh Start Party
June 9 (for clergy)

Hosted by The Reverend Frank Crumbaugh, Rector, Holy Innocents’ Church, Beach Haven, New Jersey; The Reverend Gretchen Zimmerman, Rector, Church of St. Raphael the Archangel, Brick, New Jersey

This is a play day at the beach for all clergy and the Annual Fresh Start Party. Its stated agenda is NO agenda, other than to relax and enjoy one another’s company . . . the exercises of the day include volley ball, hammock snoozing, feasting, laughing and scratching, reading the first “beach-trash” of the season, surf and bay dabbling, boat riding, fishing —you get the idea.

Sponsored by the Clergy Day Planning Committee

Spring 2012
DIOCESAN YOUTH MINISTRY

See newjerseyyouth.org for detailed information on registration, attendance, adult sponsors, medical release forms, and scholarships. You may also call the Youth Ministry Office at 609 394-5281, Canon Kep Short at extension 36 or the Reverend Debi Clarke, Deacon, at extension 37.

53rd Annual Bishops Ball

Young and old alike are invited to join us for the 53rd anniversary of New Jersey’s diocesan-wide tradition of gathering for music, dancing, food, and fun! Come dance, eat, and hang out with the bishop and friends from all over the diocese!

Senior Retreat
Into the World: A Promise and a Prayer

Send us now into the world in peace, and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you. (Book of Common Prayer, Holy Eucharist)

This prayer, said after receiving communion, remembers the promise of baptism and looks forward to a re-fueled journey with Jesus Christ into the world. It is said in community and asks God for the gifts we need to sustain our relationships and ourselves as we seek to do God’s work together.

High school seniors are on the cusp of stepping into a larger world and the rest of their lives after high school graduation. This prayer is in many ways theirs, as well.

Come join us at the beautiful convent retreat house in Mendham for a weekend of prayer and play, sharing and laughter, food and rest, and worship and music. Together we will share our lives, our hopes, and ourselves as we pray for peace, strength and courage in the journey.

Spring Youth Event
Erase the Racism — The Dignity of Every Human Being

Racism is alive and well. Despite enormous accomplishments in our legal and political systems, it lingers on. It lingers in the jokes we tell or hear at others’ expense, the segregated school cafeterias and neighborhoods and churches, in assumptions we make about others, and in the institutions that are structured around us.

Racism is a great evil that keeps all of us from being the restored people that God longs for us to be. Where do we see it? Why does it still exist? What can we do to free our hearts and our communities of it? How can God’s love for us and our devotion to God’s desire shape a better world?

This weekend, we will come together as a community to erase the racism in and around us! Join us for a packed weekend of questions and prayers — all among new and old friends in the green hills of Camp Lebanon. Don’t miss it!

Public transportation to Trenton

If you're coming to an event in Trenton — at Diocesan House or Trinity Cathedral — and need to find a train or bus, check the schedules.

NJ Transit buses
NJ Transit trains
NJ Light Rail

A NJ Transit trip planner will enable you to find a convenient route and time.

Contacts

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