Good Friday Offering

Although this bulletin insert from the Episcopal Church Center was for the eighith Sunday after Epiphany (February 27), we put it in this Sunday's bulletin since Good Friday is this Friday.

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Excerpt From a Message From the Presiding Bishop

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

For almost a century, the Good Friday Offering has been a source of support, love, and hope for our brothers and sisters in the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East. … This offering expresses our own commitment to seek and serve Christ in all persons and to walk with the church of the Middle East as they continue to work toward justice, reconciliation, and peace. Through our prayers for and support of these churches we are helping to realize God’s vision of shalom. … Please join with me in giving thanks for the work of the Good Friday Offering by generously sharing the gifts we have been given with our sisters and brothers throughout the Middle East.

I remain, Your servant in Christ,

Katharine Jefferts Schori

(To read the complete letter , see http://www.episcopalchurch.org/110049_126699_ENG_HTM.htm.)

Some of the projects funded by the 2010 Good Friday Offering include:

• St. Peter’s Elderly Home in BirZeit, which offers housing for elderly Christians


• St. Andrew’s Day Care Center in Ramallah, a new clinic for diabetic cardio treatment


• St. Andrew’s Housing Project for Young Christian Couples, which helps young couples afford apartments


• Needy families on the West Bank


• Ras Morbat Clinic in Aden, Yemen, which provides unlimited access to basic health services in a low-income area


• Scholarships for religious education for Christian children (who represent only 1 percent of the population)

Collected funds can be sent in the form of a check, payable to “The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society” (please write “Good Friday Offering” in the memo line of the check) to:Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society Good Friday Offering PO Box 12095Newark, NJ 07101For more information contact the Rev. David Copley(800) 334-7626, ext. 5461; dcopley@episcopalchurch.org.

Copyright © 2011 The Episcopal Church Center, 815 Second Avenue New York, NY 10017 (800)-334-7626 www.episcopalchurch.org

This Week's Haiti Appeal Bulletin Insert

The Rev. Mark Santucci, St. Mark’s Church, Mystic

St. Mark’s in Mystic partnered with St. Luc’s Church and School in Mercery, Haiti, in 2003 through our contact with the priest in charge there, the Rev. Kerwin Delicat. Two moments from our trip to Haiti in 2009 provide touchstones for the joy, pain and hope of partnership in Christ.

We spent some time one morning at a hospital for children. Our task was just to hold babies, to give them with some cuddle time the nursing staff was too harried to provide. I started by picking up Kimberlee, a skinny 18-month-old with big, brown eyes you could drown in. We strolled the hall for a while, until I thought it was time to move on to another child.

Kimberlee, however, thought differently and cried mightily when I put her down. So I picked her up again and began the pattern of holding, trying to put her down, her crying, and me picking her up again that went on until the nurses told us our time was up.

I put Kimberlee into her crib and walked away from the tear-filled eyes and throaty crying. But even in the next room I could hear her cry: even in the parking lot, even on the plane ride home, and even today.

The other moment was the celebration of the Feast of St. Luke at our partner parish in Mercery, near Leogane. Th e small church was filled, not only with people, but with music and joy and a fullness of Spirit that was close to palpable. We were given places of honor among the community, and our feeble attempt at a Kreyòl greeting was met with thunderous applause. In the Eucharist and at the feast that followed, we knew that even though we did not speak the language, even though we were seriously underdressed, and even though we had a long plane ride ahead of us, we were truly home.

Like Connecticut, Haiti is a Diocese of the Episcopal Church. It is our most populous diocese, with about 80,000 people, and it is our poorest.

Its Cathedral in Port-au-Prince was a cultural center for the nation, a place of pride and beauty for all Haitians.

In 35 seconds on Jan. 12, 2010, it fell.

People still flocked to its grounds and its ruins for food and shelter. Absent a working government, the church has always been a place to find schools, clinics, and other social services we take for granted. And thanks to Episcopal Relief and Development, as well as many other agencies and churches, the Bishop, school staff, and sisters of St. Margaret, were able to off er short-term employment, provisional homes, and sanitation systems in addition to other community-focus recovery programs.

Even in the midst of the deep human need and suffering in Haiti, the people seek to worship God together. And while there are agencies who will rebuild schools and clinics, only the church will rebuild a church. Please join in supporting the rebuilding of the Cathedral complex in Port-au-Prince by making a donation this Lent.

“Rebuilding Trinity Cathedral will do more than raise up bricks and cement. It will raise the hopes of a people who have lost so much of their earthly habitation. It will raise the Spirit of a community made weary, ...inspire the minds and hearts of the young men and women who knew Trinity as their intellectual and artistic home [and] serve as a beacon and shelter for literally thousands who are rebuilding their lives with little more than hope and prayers.

--Bishop Duracin, Bishop of Haiti

Nou ave’ou! - We’re with you!

This appeal in the Diocese of Connecticut is part of an Episcopal Church-wide appeal this Lent coordinated by the Episcopal Church Foundation. In Connecticut organizers are asking that donations be made to the local parish, which will then forward them. For more information see the “Rebuild our Church in Haiti” page on the diocesan website, www.ctepiscopal.org. The Rev. Rachel Thomas is the coordinator of the appeal for the Diocese of Connecticut. Contact her at rwthomas55@att.net.

This Week's Haiti Appeal Bulletin Insert

Dan Taylor-Stypa, D. Min., David Evangelisti, St. John’s Church, Essex

Our relationship with Hôpital Albert Schweitzer (HAS) in Deschapelles Haiti began through our membership on the World Mission Committee of St. John’s Church in Essex. Th e parents of fellow parishioner Jenifer Grant, Gwen Grant Mellon and Dr. Larry Mellon, founded HAS 54 years ago.

After the “trambleman” (earthquake) in January 2010, surgical patients were brought to HAS, while others fled there from Port-au-Prince to join friends and family in relative safety. David and I began “Have a Heart for Haiti” as a town-wide initiative to support the relief efforts for HAS. Parishioners from St. John’s participated in this initiative, which was also greatly supported by individuals and businesses in the area.

This initiative gave way to the development of Sister Cities Essex Haiti, (SCEH). Sister Cities is an international group which assists groups in forming long-term, mutual and sustainable relationships with international communities. In the summer of 2011 this relationship was formalized with the town of Deschapelles, where HAS is located. In collaborating with their local community organization, ODES, we learned that Deschapelles needed a library so we began the present library project.

In our visits to HAS, our days are long, but are fulfilled in building relationships with other groups and individuals. These include the clergy, hospital personnel, hospital social services, and community development programs -- wells, sanitation, water pumps, community gardening, micro-banking, micro-businesses, and re-forestation programs. As we have met and shared relationships, we have been graced with the resilient hope of the people.

The Haitian people tell you they are fortunate, they have earned this luck by the labor of their hands and their determination. They continue amid all the difficulties to tend their gardens and their children. They work to build relationships, they make time and they continue to make a life rooted in their deep faith and devotion: not to a God who sends them difficulties, but to a God who graces them with what little they have; a God who does not abandon; a God who is a companion, who lifts them up. They are our Haitian brothers and sisters.

Its Cathedral in Port-au-Prince was a cultural center for the nation, a place of pride and beauty for all Haitians.

In 35 seconds on Jan. 12, 2010, it fell.

People still flocked to its grounds and its ruins for food and shelter. Absent a working government, the church has always been a place to find schools, clinics, and other social services we take for granted. And thanks to Episcopal Relief and Development, as well as many other agencies and churches, the Bishop, school staff , and sisters of St. Margaret, were able to off er short-term employment, provisional homes, and sanitation systems in addition to other community-focus recovery programs.

Even in the midst of the deep human need and suffering in Haiti, the people seek to worship God together. And while there are agencies who will rebuild schools and clinics, only the church will rebuild a church. Please join in supporting the rebuilding of the Cathedral complex in Port-au-Prince by making a donation this Lent.

“On Sunday ...we attended Eucharist (out of doors) at the Episcopal Cathedral of Ste. Trinité, completely leveled by the earthquake, in Port-Au-Prince. We couldn’t help but think how many present had lost friends and loved ones. Yet, their sincere prayer and their everyday response to “How are you?” remains steadfast as “Mwen kenbe ale sou” ( I keep going on), “Mwen isit la” (I am here), par la grâce de Dieu (by the grace of God).” -- Dan Taylor-Stypa and David Evangelisti

Nou ave’ou! - We’re with you!

This appeal in the Diocese of Connecticut is part of an Episcopal Church-wide appeal this Lent coordinated by the Episcopal Church Foundation. In Connecticut organizers are asking that donations be made to the local parish, which will then forward them. For more information see the “Rebuild our Church in Haiti” page on the diocesan website, www.ctepiscopal.org. Th e Rev. Rachel Thomas is the coordinator of the appeal for the Diocese of Connecticut. Contact her at rwthomas55@att.net.

Another Haiti Appeal Bulletin Insert

The Rev. Erl G. “Puck” Purnell, Old St. Andrew’s, Bloomfield

My relationship with Haiti began in 1993 through an association with the Rev. Jean-Elie Millien, a Haitian priest serving as vicar of l’Eglise de l’Epiphanie, Stamford. In 1996 Jean-Elie retired and moved to Carrefour, Haiti with his wife Mona. Together they started a small school there, which they named Ecole le Bon Samaritain.

Over the years Old St. Andrew’s has been steadfastly committed to offering support through scholarships, a lunch program, teacher salaries, a water purification system, electrical generator and storage batteries, even helping to build a second story on the original building.

I am passionate about helping in Haiti, and it is the children that keep me caring and involved. Consider this: Three years ago on a trip to Ecole Bon Samaritain (EBS) I first met Weislene. She was in 3rd grade. She slipped up beside me and took my hand, grinning. Each trip back to visit EBS after that I would seek her out. She was always smiling and amazingly patient with my broken French and non-existent Kreyol.

Immediately following the earthquake in 2010, Old St. Andrew’s, with dozens of partners, provided critical medical care, food, clothing, and temporary shelter to over 8,000 people. In March I went with a group to the clinic that had been set up next to the school. I asked about Weislene but no one knew what had happened to her.

Late one afternoon near the end of my week-long visit, I went to the clinic to greet the last few patients and there was Weislene, sitting patiently with a sick 2-year old on her lap. I said hello but she hardly responded, only pulling the child closer. After the nurse saw them, we gave them a bag filled with pedialyte, food, and other supplies. She smiled tentatively and walked away, weighted down by the bag of provisions and the toddler. Later I learned that the mother of this child, a neighbor, had been killed and his father was gone, so Weislene and her father were caring for him. Weislene’s own mother had also died in the quake.

The next day I saw Weislene again. This time she threw her arms around my neck, stepped back and said, “Merci. Merci, Père Puck.”

Like Connecticut, Haiti is a Diocese of the Episcopal Church. It is our most populous diocese, with about 80,000 people, and it is our poorest.

Its Cathedral in Port-au-Prince was a cultural center for the nation, a place of pride and beauty for all Haitians.

In 35 seconds on Jan. 12, 2010, it fell.

People still flocked to its grounds and its ruins for food and shelter. Absent a working government, the church has always been a place to find schools, clinics, and other social services we take for granted. And thanks to Episcopal Relief and Development, as well as many other agencies and churches, the Bishop, school staff , and sisters of St. Margaret, were able to off er short-term employment, provisional homes, and sanitation systems in addition to other community-focus recovery programs.

Even in the midst of the deep human need and suffering in Haiti, the people seek to worship God together. And while there are agencies who will rebuild schools and clinics, only the church will rebuild a church. Please join in supporting the rebuilding of the Cathedral complex in Port-au-Prince by making a donation this Lent. This appeal in the Diocese of Connecticut is part of an Episcopal Church-wide appeal this Lent coordinated by the Episcopal Church Foundation. In Connecticut organizers are asking that donations be made to the local parish, which will then forward them. For more information see the “Rebuild our Church in Haiti” page on the diocesan website, www.ctepiscopal.org. The Rev. Rachel Thomas is the coordinator of the appeal for the Diocese of Connecticut. Contact her at rwthomas55@att.net.

“The presence of the Episcopal Church in Haiti and its mission cannot be overstated. At the very center is Cathédrale Sainte Trinité. Filled to the brim with the faithful Sunday by Sunday, worship in the Cathedral demonstrates the passion of Haitians for their Church. Moreover, the Cathédrale is the hub of ministry—education, outreach, medical care, and music—for hundreds of people daily.” -- The Rev. Erl G. Purnell

Nou ave’ou! - We’re with you!

This Week's Haiti Appeal Bulletin Insert

The Rev. Judith Alexis, Vicar, L'Eglise de L'Epiphanie, Stamford

I am an Island girl in two ways. I was born on the Islandof Manhattan and grew up, went to school on the Island of Hispaniola, in Haiti.

The Haiti of my childhood is one filled with laughter, storytelling at night and a number of “no batteries required” games. I listened to “L’Orchestre Sainte Trinité,” Episcopal Church Orchestra. I went to the Art Museum sponsored by “College St. Pierre” before I went to the Brooklyn Museum.

The Episcopal Church was and continues to instruct the majority of classically trained Haitian artists and musicians. I enjoyed going to the concerts, the park and the museum. Out of all those, the best was February 22nd Baden Powell’s Birthday, founder of the modern scout movements, on the grounds of the Cathedral Complex.

Boys and girls dressed in uniform khaki with short pants for boys, long pants for young men, dresses for the older girls and jean-wash-colored dresses trimmed with yellow, red and green, with dark blue socks and black shoes for the girls. And bows and barrettes in the younger girl’s hair. It was like a field of colors a sea of chatter and laughter.

We sang as loud as we could. Among other songs, one of them reminded the community to assure that the kids are happy “Pa kite timoun yo tris” (Strive for no sadness among kids).

St. Trinity cathedral complex is not only the spiritual seat of the diocese of Haiti. It is a place where kids come for classical academic formation. It is where all social classes meet and have fellowship, where the vendors come give thanks to God before
continuing to peddle their merchandise to earn enough for food and school. Where all are welcome regardless of their religious or socio-economic status.

In my Haiti, the scouts are where I first learned to respect the dignity of every human being. On the grounds of the Cathédrale Sainte Trinité, I saw it in practice.

Like Connecticut, Haiti is a Diocese of the Episcopal Church. It is our most populous diocese, with about 80,000 people, and it is our poorest.

Its Cathedral in Port-au-Prince was a cultural center for the nation, a place of pride and beauty for all Haitians.

In 35 seconds on Jan. 12, 2010, it fell.

People still flocked to its grounds and its ruins for food and shelter. Absent a working government, the church has always been a place to find schools, clinics, and other social services we take for granted. And thanks to Episcopal Relief and Development, as well as many other agencies and churches, the Bishop, school staff , and sisters of St. Margaret, were able to offer short-term employment, provisional homes, and sanitation systems in addition to other community-focus recovery programs.

Even in the midst of the deep human need and suffering in Haiti, the people seek to worship God together. And while there are agencies who will rebuild schools and clinics, only the church will rebuild a church. Please join in supporting the rebuilding of the Cathedral complex in Port-au-Prince by making a donation this Lent.

“In 1983 and 1984 I was blessed to work as a Volunteer for Mission in L’Eglise Episcopale d’Haiti (Th e Episcopal Church of Haiti) where I helped develop a partnership program between Episcopal schools in Haiti and parishes, dioceses and schools in the United States. Whenever I entered Holy Trinity Cathedral, I was moved by the palpable presence of God in that place. With its incredible frescoes by the Haitian masters and joyous music by the choirs and orchestra of Holy Trinity Music School, the Cathedral manifested Haiti’s artistic beauty and the deep faith of the Haitian people.” -- The Rt. Rev. Ian T. Douglas, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut

Nou ave'ou! - We're with you!

This appeal in the Diocese of Connecticut is part of an Episcopal Church-wide appeal this Lent coordinated by the Episcopal Church Foundation. In Connecticut organizers are asking that donations be made to the local parish, which will then forward them. For more information see the “Rebuild our Church in Haiti” page on the diocesan website, www.ctepiscopal.org. The Rev. Rachel Thomas is the coordinator of the appeal for the Diocese of Connecticut. Contact her at rwthomas55@att.net.

A Pastoral Letter from Our Bishops

Pastoral Letter from the Bishops of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut
To be read Sunday, March 13, 2011

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

We, your bishops, are writing to invite your parish to participate in a special Lenten appeal to support the rebuilding of the Episcopal Church of Haiti. Specifically we are asking every worshipping congregation of the Diocese of Connecticut to give to a special appeal, coordinated by The Executive Council of The Episcopal Church, for the rebuilding of Holy Trinity Cathedral in Port-au-Prince.

In the year since the earthquake in Haiti, the Rt. Rev Jean Zaché Duracin, Bishop of Haiti, and the staff of the cathedral schools and other ministries have carried on heroically amidst the ruins, while at times living in tents. The music school and grade school are in operation again even though there are no walls and only temporary shelters. Students practice under trees, surrounded by rubble. During this time, the Diocese of Haiti has identified the rebuilding of the Cathedral complex in the heart of Port-au-Prince as its top priority.

Last November, Bishop Duracin wrote:

Rebuilding Holy Trinity Cathedral will do more than raise up bricks and cement. It will raise the hopes of a people who have lost so much of their earthly habitation. It will raise the Spirit of a community made weary… As we rebuild Trinity Cathedral, brick by brick and stone by stone, it will serve as a beacon and shelter for literally thousands who are rebuilding their lives with little more than hope and prayers.

The Diocese of Connecticut has a long association with the Diocese of Haiti. For over 150 years, from the founding of the Episcopal Church of Haiti under the leadership of the Rt. Rev. James Theodore Holly, one-time rector of St. Luke’s in New Haven, to the current partnerships many of you share with different schools, churches, clinics, and ministries in Haiti, we have built relationships rooted in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are now being called upon to help rebuild Holy Trinity Cathedral, a tangible sign of our deep commitment to each other as one people of God and as a sign of hope, reconciliation and renewal for the rebuilding of Haitian society.

God is at work in the ministry of the Episcopal Church of Haiti. Thousands of people who have lost so very much are being fed by the proclamation of the Gospel, the celebration of the sacraments, and the ministries of the communities of the diocese. A rebuilt cathedral will be the hub of God’s continuing mission and a center of prayer and renewal. Our brothers and sisters in Haiti have asked for our help. Let us respond, “Nou ave’ou!” "We are with you!"

God bless you in your generous response and God bless the ministry of the Episcopal Church in Haiti.

Faithfully,
The Rt. Rev. Ian T. Douglas
The Rt. Rev. James E. Curry
The Rt. Rev. Laura J. Ahrens

Nou ave’ou! – We’re with you

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For more information see the diocese's Rebuild Our Church in Haiti web page.

Letter to Grace Church

May 8, 2010

To the People of Grace Episcopal Church,
Dear Friends in Christ,

Grace Episcopal Church has a long history of letting itself be transformed through inclusivity and diversity. The people who worship at Grace have benefited from that history as has the city of Norwalk.

During the last week of April, our brothers and sisters at Iglesia Episcopal Betania were advised that their host parish would no longer provide space for an office for their Priest Missioner. Iglesia Betania voted to leave the host church with their priest.

On Wednesday, May 5, 2010, I delivered to Iglesia Betania, in a gathering of people from both Grace and Betania, the following letter from the Vestry of Grace Episcopal Church:

“The Vestry, Wardens and Clergy invite you to be a Congregation in Residence, living with us at Grace Episcopal Church, 1 Union Park, Norwalk, Connecticut.

It is our desire that conversations and work toward merger of Grace Episcopal Church and Iglesia Episcopal Betania continue during your residence among us.

We invite you to worship regularly at 1:00 on Sundays in the language of your choice, and to join us at any time in English worship at 10:00. We invite you to join us in worship together once every month, in a bilingual service. We invite you to maintain an office for your Priest Missioner at Grace Church.

We extend to you the hospitality of Christ Jesus our Lord and pray that our life together will be a participation in God’s mission of reconciling all people to God, to one another, and to all creation.”

Grace Church will begin hosting Iglesia Episcopal Betania on June 1. On Sunday, June 6 they will celebrate their first Spanish service at 1:00 p.m. in the Undercroft, until such time as Grace and Betania may merge. The Undercroft is a temporary measure, giving L’Eglise Baptiste Hatienne, which worships at noon in the Church, time to adjust to other possibilities that will enable them to continue to have a home at Grace.

The Reverend José Díaz will continue to serve the people of Iglesia Betania as their missioner, a position funded by the Diocese of Connecticut. The monthly bilingual service will continue.

The Steering Committee of Grace and Betania will write an agreement covering our life together, including but not limited to:

• An office to be provided for the Priest Missioner
• The use of the Church by Iglesia Episcopal Betania for a Spanish Mass every Sunday
• The joining of Grace with Betania in a monthly bilingual service
• A time every Sunday when the two congregations will join together in the education and spiritual formation of children, youth and adults
• Music program opportunities
• Other privileges and responsibilities of our common life together as we, jointly, deem proper to the relationship between a Congregation in Residence and the Host Congregation, including Iglesia Episcopal Betania’s pledge to Grace Episcopal Church

This agreement will be reviewed by the Right Reverend James Curry, Bishop Suffragan, and Canon John (Jack) Spaeth.

During their residency, Iglesia Episcopal Betania will continue to have their own Vestry, elect officers and delegates to Diocesan Convention, keep separate books, have their own stewardship campaign, and provide their own Altar supplies and musician.

Iglesia Betania’s last 1:00 p.m. Spanish service at Christ Church East Norwalk will be on Sunday, May 16. You can show your support for the people of Betania by attending that last service.

On May 23, the Feast of Pentecost, Betania will worship with Grace in English at the 10:00 service, except for those portions which, because it is Pentecost, will be in other languages. On May 30 we will celebrate our regular bilingual service.

In June there will be a special “coffee house” type gathering of both congregations, which will give us an opportunity to hear one another’s stories. In the meantime, if you have any questions, or would like to know more about this transition, please feel free to contact the Reverend Lois Keen at revlois1@yahoo.com or 203-866-8426, or Senior Warden John Sutton at johnfsut@aol.com or 203- 838-8836.

Yours faithfully in Christ,

Lois Keen
Priest in Charge