From The Rev. Helen Harper We, at St. Michael’s, Ridgecrest, recently revitalized our Sunday School program under new leadership. We began by purchasing a wonderful curriculum entitled, Weaving God’s Promises which follows the Episcopal Sunday lectionary. Then changed the traditional name “Sunday School” to Discovery Youth Ministry and raised the age limit to include youth […]

“For the past three weeks, ECCO has been delighted to host 49 Staff, Junior Counselors, and Children who have participated in a Children’s International Summer Village program. CISV is a camp designed to inspire 11-year-old children to imagine a more just and peaceful world. The children come together from many different countries to take part […]

From The Rev. Kathie Galicia, St. Francis, Turlock One of the most pervasive ideas we hear at church when we talk about stewardship is the concept of the three T’s—Time, Talent, and Treasure.The reality is that money —“Treasure”— is usually what interests most churches. Money is required to maintain our churches and our diocese, and […]

 From Deacon Nancy Ney While the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin has not authorized its congregations to provide physician sanctuary, congregations can support those congregations of denominations and faiths who have declared themselves to be sanctuary congregations. If your congregation is linked with Faith in the Valley or another interfaith group, you may already be […]

From Brother Dunstan Townsend, OSB We all know how hot it can get in the Central Valley of California, but most of us do not have to live outdoors in the heat, or in housing without air conditioning. However, many of our brothers and sisters do live in just these conditions. With a forecast for temperatures […]

From Bishop David As a vote on the new health care bill has been postponed until after the Senate evacuates DC for July 4th and returns (by the way, blessings for the upcoming holiday and especially those of you who are traveling, travel blessings everyone), I wish to offer a few brief thoughts and reflections. […]

The Reverend Virginia Francis Hart (née Haynes) 9/26/23 – 5/26/17 Deacon Gini passed quietly in the early morning hours of May 26th. She is once again with her beloved husband Bob Hart, who was the absolute light of her life. Though born in Colusa, CA, she was raised in Chico, CA from a very young […]

From Deacon Nancy The Episcopal Church has been active in standing with immigrants for many years. This holy work is rooted in our faith and commanded throughout scripture. I’ve cited verses previously in this space, but here again is a reminder of the scriptural underpinnings of this work: “Do not take advantage of foreigners in […]

Dear Sisters and Brothers — We, your Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, are pleased to announce that Bishop David Rice has received the required consents, from both bishops with jurisdiction and standing committees of the Episcopal Church, to become bishop diocesan. We look are looking forward to our future and in […]

From The Rev. Canon Anna Carmichael Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: Growing up in the South and in the Southern Baptist tradition, the word “Revival” was pretty loaded. It’s kinda the way Episcopalians feel about the word “Evangelism”-something we should be doing, but it seems too scary, too hard, or we don’t know how. […]