by Keely Thrall | Feb 23, 2023
Principio del evangelio de Jesucristo, el Hijo de Dios.
Marcos 1:1
Libro de la genealogía de Jesucristo, hijo de David, hijo de Abrahán.
Mateo 1:1
Muchos han emprendido la tarea de escribir la historia de los hechos que Dios ha llevado a cabo entre nosotros… Yo también, excelentísimo Teófilo, lo he investigado todo con cuidado desde el principio, y me ha parecido conveniente escribirte estas cosas ordenadamente, para que conozcas bien la verdad de lo que te han enseñado.
Lucas 1:1-4
En el principio ya existía la Palabra, la Palabra estaba con Dios, y Dios mismo era la Palabra.
Juan 1:1
¿Conoces bien la historia de la vida de Jesús y sus enseñanzas?
Si usted es como muchas personas que asisten a una congregación episcopal (y la mayoría de los estadounidenses que se identifican como cristianos), la respuesta honesta es: “no muy bien”. Has oído leer mucho de la Biblia los domingos por la mañana, y puedes recordar algunos de los acontecimientos de la vida de Jesús. Aun así, nunca has interiorizado el arco de su vida, el conjunto de sus enseñanzas y los matices con que los cuatro autores de los relatos evangélicos interpretan la historia de Jesús. Sin una práctica regular de lectura y reflexión sobre la vida y las enseñanzas de Jesús, es probable que no hayas tenido la experiencia de que Dios te hable a través de las palabras de las Escrituras.
Por supuesto, nada de lo que he escrito hasta ahora puede ser cierto para usted. Tal vez alguna vez leíste la Biblia y oraste con regularidad en una etapa anterior de tu vida, pero por una serie de razones -incluyendo las formas en que algunos pasajes bíblicos se han utilizado para causar daño- dejaste de hacerlo.
O puede que lleves años estudiando la Biblia y practiques con regularidad la oración y la reflexión sobre la vida y las enseñanzas de Jesús. ¿Sabes que cada vez que te sientas ante esas historias familiares, tienen el poder de hablarte de nuevo? También sabes que la vida de fe nunca es estática, que siempre hay un siguiente paso fiel.
¿Cuál podría ser el siguiente paso fiel para ti?
Hemos entrado en el tiempo de Cuaresma, los cuarenta días que Jesús pasó en el desierto antes de comenzar su ministerio público. Cuarenta días para reflexionar sobre su vida antes de conmemorar su muerte en la cruz.
Su vida importa. En palabras de la difunta Rachel Held Evans: “Jesús no murió simplemente para salvarnos de nuestros pecados; Jesús vivió para salvarnos de nuestros pecados. Su vida y sus enseñanzas nos muestran el camino hacia la liberación”.1
Esta es mi invitación para esta Cuaresma: Elige uno de los cuatro relatos evangélios -Mateo, Marcos, Lucas o Juan- y léelo como si fuera un cuento. Léelo para conocer el arco de la vida de Jesús contado a través del lente particular del autor. No te llevará mucho tiempo: puedes leer el Evangelio de Marcos en unos noventa minutos; uno de los otros tres te llevará, como mucho, más de una hora.
Te sorprenderá lo vívido que es Jesús en cada relato, y lo breve que fue su vida. Presta atención a lo que te inspire o te sorprenda. Si te encuentras, como la mayoría de nosotros, confundido o preocupado por algo de lo que lees, pide a tu clero (u obispa) un buen comentario sobre ese evangelio en concreto, para comprender mejor su contexto, su visión del mundo y lo que el autor intentaba transmitir sobre Jesús.
Luego vuelve a leer ese mismo evangelio despacio, una sección cada vez, cada día durante la Cuaresma, hasta que lo termines de nuevo. Acomódate en un lugar tranquilo y pide a Dios que te hable a través de las palabras que lees. Escribe tus impresiones o preguntas.
Lo más importante es que escuches la palabra de Dios para ti a través del texto. Puede que pasen días sin que escuches nada. Entonces, un día, un pasaje o una frase en particular parecerá saltar de la página a tu corazón, y entonces sabrás lo que se siente cuando te hablan a través de las palabras de la Escritura. O días más tarde, una imagen o palabra del texto puede venir a tu mente sin anunciarse, como una fuente de iluminación o fortaleza para algún área problemática de tu vida. Puede que no suceda, porque esas cosas no están bajo nuestro control. No se trata de una representación, sino de una práctica espiritual destinada a abrirnos a recibir lo que pueda venir en un momento de reflexión silenciosa sobre la vida de Jesús.
¿Qué relato del evangelio deberías leer? El que más te atraiga.
Como es el texto evangélico que escucharemos la mayoría de los domingos de este año (excepto el primer domingo en Cuaresma), voy a leer y orar usando el Evangelio según San Juan. En muchos aspectos, el Jesús retratado en Juan es muy diferente del Jesús retratado en los otros tres evangelios, en aspectos sobre los que escribiré más adelante en Cuaresma.
Por favor, hazme saber si aceptas mi invitación y qué evangelio vas a leer. Siéntete libre de compartir tus impresiones y hacer cualquier pregunta que te surja, y haré todo lo posible por responderte. También me encantaría saber si sientes que Dios te habla a través de tu lectura orante y cómo lo hace. Podemos aprender juntos y animarnos mutuamente mientras hacemos nuestro propio viaje con Jesús a través de la Cuaresma.
1Rachel Held Evans, Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again (Nashville: Nelson Books, 2018).
by Keely Thrall | Jun 21, 2022
June 2022
Dear EDOW Clergy and Warden Colleagues,
I write with greetings, prayers of gratitude for you, and hopes that, amid the many responsibilities you carry, you are able to find time for rest and renewal this summer. While the world never stops and we are among those called to lead and to care for others, we are also in need of care and time to fill the inner wells from which we draw strength and compassion.
Summer is also a time of planning, and as you cast your gaze toward the fall, I commend to you the offerings of the School for Christian Faith and Leadership. Of particular value are the courses on faith exploration, Discover, Embrace, Become; an online confirmation class called CREATE, and a wide variety of other on-demand offerings. The School can also assist in tailoring a class to your particular context. Please contact the Rev. Jenifer Gamber for more information.
Another resource that may be of value to you is our Annual Giving Campaign toolkit that provides you with all the materials you need for your congregation’s financial stewardship efforts. This year’s theme is See, I am doing a new thing. Look for sessions through the School to introduce this program soon. Members of the Financial Resources Committee are standing by to be of help to you. Register to attend a workshop.
Your diocesan staff is also planning ahead, and I’ve included below the dates of diocesan events through the summer and fall. Please add to your calendars whatever is helpful or pertinent to you and the people of your congregation.
Let me close with words of encouragement and exhortation from the Apostle Paul that provide us with a compelling vision of what it looks like to follow Jesus in His Way of Love:
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.
Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. . . .Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:9-18:21
I thank God for all of you.
Faithfully,
Bishop Mariann
UPCOMING DIOCESAN EVENTS
Annual Giving Workshops
Saturday, July 9 | 10:00 a.m. | Grace, Silver Spring
Saturday, July 28 | 7:00 p.m. | Online by Zoom
The Financial Resources Committee of the Diocese of Washington is pleased to offer two summer workshops using the Annual Giving Toolkit. In addition to sharing specific materials from the EDOW Toolkit, we will also be discussing the possible impacts of fundraising as we emerge from a global pandemic.
Questions? Contact the Financial Resources Committee.
Priesthood Ordination
Saturday, July 23 | 10:00 a.m. | Washington National Cathedral
By the Grace of God and the people consenting The Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde will ordain to the Sacred Order of Priests, Catherine Manhardt and David Frederick Potter on
Saturday, July 23, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. at Washington National Cathedral.
Your prayers and presence are requested and clergy who are planning to process are encouraged to RSVP. The color of the day is red.
The service will be livestreamed and the link will be posted on the EDOW calendar.
Questions? Contact Archdeacon Sue von Rautenkranz.
Connecting with Your Community
Saturday, July 30 | 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. | Church of the Ascension, Sligo Parish
Connecting with your community is central to the vitality of every congregation, but it can seem daunting to step outside our doors into the neighborhood. Drawing on the practices of Asset Based Community Development, we will gather for a half-day to practice going out into the neighborhood to notice what God is up to. Participants will leave with tools to bring back to their congregation.
Click here to learn more and register. Come as an individual or a team.
Questions? Contact the Rev. Anne-Marie Jeffery, Canon for Congregational Vitality.
Congregational Growth Grants Fall Application Cycle Dates
The application cycle opens Monday, August 1 and closes Friday, October 7
EDOW Congregational Growth Grants support the efforts to grow healthy and vital congregations and create fresh expressions of Episcopal worshiping communities. The diocesan congregational growth grants offer an opportunity for parishes and ministries to dream, explore and undertake “a new thing.”
Questions? Contact Mildred Reyes, Missioner for Latino/Hispanic Ministries and Diocesan Initiatives.
Repairing the Breach: A Symposium on Reparations
Saturday, October 1 | 10:00 a.m – 3:30 p.m. | Calvary Episcopal Church, DC
We will come together as a diocese for a full day of programming to continue our shared work to reckon with our diocesan history of participation in anti-Black racism and learn more about the legacy of benefit we’ve received from that participation.
Click here to learn more and register – and please invite members of your congregation to attend.
The Reparations Task Force will have a two-session curriculum ready in July for your congregation to learn about reparations and prepare for the symposium. Click here for the flyer.
Questions? Contact the Rev. Peter Jarrett-Schell, chair of the Reparations Task Force.
Fall Diocesan Confirmation Service
Saturday, October 15 | 10:00 a.m. | Washington National Cathedral
Registration for the fall Diocesan Confirmation Service will open on September, 9, 2022. For resources to support candidates as they prepare for confirmation, including EDOW’s online confirmation program, contact the Rev. Amanda Akes-Cardwell, Missioner for Faith Formation and Development.
Questions? Contact Archdeacon Sue von Rautenkranz.
Clergy Conference
Monday, October 24 – Wednesday, October 26 | the Maritime Center, Linthicum Heights, MD
Diocesan staff and your regional deans are at work planning the Clergy Conference program. The focus this year will be on clergy wellness and how we walk alongside one another in our call to serve God’s people. We will provide ample time for you to gather with peers and to explore new collegial relationships. The Rev. Dr. Allison St. Louis will be our conference leader. More details to follow soon; for now, please hold these dates on your calendars.
Questions? Contact Allen Fitzpatrick, Executive Assistant to the Canons.
Workshop Day on the Diaconate
Saturday, October 29 | 9:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. | Location to be announced
The Ven. L. Sue von Rautenkranz, Archdeacon of the Diocese of Washington, along with members of the Commission on Ministry and the Standing Committee, deacons, and priests with experience serving with deacons, will share their knowledge of diaconal ministry as well as practical next-steps in a day filled with presentations, small group information sessions, and worship. Registration will open on August 29, 2022. Learn more about the Workshop Day, including requirements for who must attend.
Questions? Contact Archdeacon Sue von Rautenkranz.
Regional Gatherings
Tuesday, October 18 | 6:30 p.m. | Online | South DC, North Prince George’s, Southern MD
Thursday, October 20 | 6:30 p.m. | Online | North, Central and South Montgomery
Tuesday, November 17 | 6:30 p.m. | Online | North and Central DC
This year, in an effort to be mindful of our resources, regions will meet in combined groups. Please add the applicable date to your calendar and notify your congregation’s Diocesan Convention delegates and alternates. Registration, materials, and voting information will be shared closer to regional gathering dates.
Questions? Contact the Rev. Andrew Walter, Canon to the Ordinary and Chief Operating Officer.
Christian Formation Leaders Retreat
Friday, November 4 – Saturday, November 5 | Claggett Center
Join children, youth, and family formation leaders for rest, rejuvenation, and spiritual refreshment. This overnight retreat is a time for formation leaders to be in communion with one another and with the Rev. Amanda Akes-Cardwell, Missioner for Faith Formation and Development. The retreat will feature teaching, worship, downtime, and fellowship. 1-2 Formation leaders from each parish are invited to attend, however, space is limited. Registration opens September 1.
Questions? Contact The Rev. Amanda Akes-Cardwell, Missioner for Formation and Development.
by Keely Thrall | Jun 9, 2022
“See, I am doing a new thing.”
Isaiah 43:19
If you are new to stewardship or would like to gather with others who are doing the same kind of work in congregations across the diocese, you are warmly invited to attend one of our Annual Giving Workshops.
Annual Giving Campaign Workshops
Saturday, July 9 | 10:00 AM | Grace Church, Silver Spring
Thursday, July 28 | 7:00 PM | Zoom
Register for a Workshop
Annual Giving Campaign Toolkit Resources page
The Episcopal Diocese of Washington is pleased to share the 2022 Online Annual Giving Toolkit. The theme for this year, See, I Am Doing a New Thing, comes from the prophet Isaiah, and reminds us that God is always doing something new. As ever, undertaking an Annual Giving Campaign is an opportunity for parish leadership to remind congregations that their financial pledges are a crucial investment in the future life and ministry of the church.
For many, the recent past has been a mixture of uncertainty and concern, excitement and hope. We have continued to live with the ongoing pandemic, never quite knowing what the next day might bring or when the next surge in cases might come. At the same time, we have been able to regather inside our churches, worship together in-person, see old friends and welcome new ones, many of whom we have only known online.
While we continue to cherish the traditions that ground us and help provide some much-desired stability, the wilderness of the pandemic has also given us a chance to reevaluate how we can best follow Jesus into, as Presiding Bishop Michael Curry proclaims, a loving, liberating, and life-giving relationship with God, with each other, and with the earth. Long standing ministries have been revitalized with new ideas and focus. Buildings, sanctuaries, and worship spaces are being viewed with fresh perspectives. New ministries have sprung to life. Across the Diocese of Washington, we have:
- Sponsored families fleeing war and hardship from around the world
- Helped people experiencing food insecurity find healthy meals for their families
- Supported community members on the edge of homelessness in finding resources to pay utility bills
- Offered a warm and safe place to rest for people who are unhoused
Throughout the Scriptures, we see God and God’s people “doing a new thing.” In Genesis, God did the first new thing by creating the world out of a dark void, promised Abraham that he would become the father of many nations, and gave the 10 Commandments to Moses on Mt. Sinai. The prophets reminded the Israelites to look for new things in unexpected places. In the Incarnation, we see and experience the ultimate new thing as Jesus lives, dies, and rises again in our midst.
God is also inviting us to continue the work of discerning how best to preach the gospel afresh in this and in every generation. Through the financial support of our parishes, we join together with the Holy Spirit in breathing life, light, and hope into the world. This kind of engagement requires thoughtful and prayerful financial commitment from each of us.
No two congregations are the same in terms of available time and resources to conduct their Annual Giving Campaign.
With this in mind, we invite you to explore, modify, and use the materials collected in this toolkit in whatever ways will be most helpful to your parish. Your greatest success will come from adapting the timeline and other offerings to reflect your congregation’s unique needs and experiences. Please don’t hesitate to ask questions if something seems unclear or if you’d like further guidance. The Financial Resources Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington is ready to assist you in conducting a successful Annual Giving Campaign.
Email the Financial Resources Committee
by Keely Thrall | May 13, 2022
Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Acts 10:34-43
At the last supper, when Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:31-3
I’d like to reflect upon a dimension of the spiritual life that we don’t discuss enough, and that is the arc of it, and the ebb and flow of our feelings, as we make our way in this world as a person of faith, and in particular, a follower of Jesus.
Let me begin by telling you of a time when as a young adult–in my mid-twenties–I had what felt at the time to be an important decision to make. It wasn’t a life-changing decision, but a big enough deal that I wanted to get it right. Incidentally, I had already come to the decisions that those being confirmed are making today. I knew that I was a Christian and dedicated my life to following Jesus. In fact, I was in seminary, studying to be a priest. So I was all in, as they say, when it comes to faith, and I was praying about this decision, too, and for days I wrestled with the options, feeling genuinely torn. It was an uncomfortable time, and not an unfamiliar one. I struggled a lot with decisions back then, and in many ways still do. I’m prone to second-guessing myself, making quick decisions and immediately regretting them, going back and forth, wishing that some lightbulb would go off in my head and just settle things.
So back then I went for a swim at a nearby recreation center with this quandary on my mind. Somewhere in the midst of doing laps, the lightbulb went off. Clarity came, washing over me like the water I was swimming through. It felt like a gift from God, lifting me out of the indecisive state I had worked myself into. I knew exactly what to do and I knew why. Energized, I picked up the pace and finished my workout as if competing for Olympic gold. But no sooner had I stepped out of the water and began to dry off when the familiar feelings of uncertainty returned, completely overtaking the confidence I experienced just moments before.
The first thought I had was something like, Really–are you kidding me? Then, thankfully, I burst out laughing–mostly at myself for the way I was stressing over that one decision. That’s when it dawned on me that my feelings of uncertainty, and then certainty, and uncertainty again were just that–they were feelings that come and go. At the same time, I still had the decision to make, and I realized I now had another choice: I could either trust the clarity that came while I swam or go with the rush of doubt that followed. In an act of faith, I chose to trust my experience in the water. I remember praying, “Lord, I’m going to trust this is from you and act on it.”
Let me say again that what I was dealing with at the time wasn’t, in the end, that big of a deal, but the decision to trust the gift of clarity when it came to me, even after it left and I no longer felt it, has helped me more times than I can count when the stakes were higher. It’s drawn me closer to God, because in those times, I walk by faith and do my best to keep going, even when the confidence I felt in a given moment fades away.
What I hope you take away from this story is simply this: how you feel or don’t feel on a given day about God and the importance of God in your life; and what you may or may not believe in the sense of having complete confidence that something is true–these things come and go. But what you will have–and most certainly already have had–are moments like what happened to me in the pool when you feel something, when clarity or insight or an experience that you cannot explain rationally is given to you as a gift. Sometimes it will be strong and clear enough to see you through all the times of struggle and uncertainty that follow. Sometimes it may seem to disappear completely, but that’s when the life of faith becomes real, when you decide to trust the experience, in all its plausible deniability.
Now I’m not saying that every experience of seeming clarity or insight that comes from you is of God–that would be dangerous. They need to be tested in some way. Here is what I’ve learned about them, and how to sort through the ones that are trustworthy from the ones that aren’t–and believe me, I don’t always get this right.
If the experience is of God, the feelings that accompany it are those of love and acceptance–total acceptance of who you are and what you’re going through. If it feels otherwise–as if harsh, mean-spirited or unforgiving–that’s to be rejected (think of that later in the service when I ask you about renouncing forces of evil). It will almost always be the path requiring greater courage, unless what God is trying to say to you is that you need to slow down and not try so hard to make things right on your own. Every once in a while the word or insight that comes to us requires a really dramatic response–but not always, and I daresay, not often, and they generally occur in situations of acute crisis.
One example from my life: two years ago, at what was then the most acute and frightening stage of the covid pandemic before there were vaccines and a lot of people were dying, we had just settled my mom into an assisted living apartment. It promised to be a really good place for her as she recovered from a life-altering surgery and the sudden loss of all her independence. But then her facility had to shut everything down that made life worth living there, and she was quarantined in her room. I couldn’t see her and she couldn’t leave. My husband was away; and I had no way to care for her on my own, but one morning I woke up and knew as clearly as I knew my own name that I had to get her out of there. And I did, and she lived with us for over a year. Were there times afterwards when I wondered if I had made the right decision? Of course. But I had to trust that it was the right thing to do and just do it.
Do you hear what I’m saying: The life of faith is less about the words we say in church–although I’ll get to those in a minute–and more with how we live our lives in a spirit of trust. Can we trust that God is real? Can we believe that the person of Jesus, who lived, taught, healed, upended his society with a message of radical love and justice for the poor and was killed for it, and then was raised by God so that his death was not evidence of failure but an expression of how God’s love cannot be defeated even in death, and whose living presence is with those who choose to follow him, is one to be trusted as a personal Savior, friend, and the way that God reaches us now? The ways we know this isn’t so much as we come to accept or even understand what Christians through the ages have said or wrote about him, but rather how we experience him, and the elusive Spirit of God, in those moments, as the black theologian Thurgood Marshall wrote years ago, when our backs are against the wall.
Now let me say something about all the in-between time, when those moments of clarity or spiritual connection fade or seem far off, when life is more routine, and we’re busy, juggling multiple things at once and tempted to spend way too much time on mindless activities, and nothing seems particularly dramatic or exciting.
These are also spiritual moments, when God, and for Christians, in the person of Jesus, is with us; but the experience isn’t one of an adrenaline rush. It’s quieter, and we need to pay more attention to the little things–the bits of grace and goodness that are all around us, the opportunities we have to make a small difference in the life of another, or to do something good even when no one is watching, or to go deeper in our understanding or knowledge of God through reading one of the gospels that tell of Jesus’ life, or joining a prayer group, or getting involved in a work of justice, or giving some of your money away so that someone else might breathe easier as a result.
This is the work of aligning our lives to what we know matters most, but that gets so easily crowded out by all that’s swirling in and around us. It’s how we learn to hear the voice of Jesus when he speaks really softly, and we become the kind of people that other people recognize as Christians, as a song I used to sing in Youth Group goes, by our love.
So let me leave you with a few phrases from our Scripture texts today that can guide you in all those other times when we’re doing our best to live as if the powerful moments of grace and insight are real, but we don’t feel them as strongly anymore. Consider them a way of orienting your life, or patterning it, on the life of Jesus, who came not only to reveal God in human form, but also to teach us how to live as the children of God that we are.
In the passages from the Acts of the Apostles we heard about what happened to one of Jesus’ disciples after the resurrection. Simon Peter has one of those powerful, life-changing realizations and he says: “I truly understand now that God shows no partiality.” Take that in for a moment, and imagine what it would look like for us to live our lives as if that one statement were true, if we truly understood that God doesn’t play favorites. God doesn’t see one person, or group at school, or neighborhood, or political party, or religious affiliation as more worthy than another. God doesn’t divide humankind the way that we do. What might that mean for us and how we live?
Now, hear Jesus speaking, as the Gospel of John imagines him as he is saying goodbye to his disciples on the night before his death. These are his parting words, what he wants them most to remember when they are feeling discouraged and alone. After I’m gone, he tells them, I need you to love one another as I have loved you. That’s it. That’s what he wanted, and still wants, all those who take on the mantle of Christian to do–to love as he loves, and specifically, to love others as we have been loved by him.
It’s something to think about when we don’t know what to do next–we could reach out in love to another person.
Which brings me back to what I tried to describe at the beginning–what it feels like when we experience something of that love, that assurance that we’re not alone, that we are being led, and inspired, by a presence we can never fully explain or understand, but that we are willing to trust and follow. As we do, we find ourselves becoming more of ourselves, and able to do brave things, and yes, to love others with a generosity of spirit that we didn’t know we had. I’m not saying that we do this all the time, and that we always get it right, because we don’t–and I’ll save that conversation for another time.
For now, I pray that this day, and the prayers that Bishop Shand and I have the privilege of offering on your behalf, will be occasions of real grace and love that you feel and trust. Then may you go from this church and live your life with as much courage and love as you can.
by Keely Thrall | Apr 28, 2022
In the wake of a two-year pandemic, there can no longer be any doubt that a parish’s website serves as the digital “front door” of a congregation. Or that an effectively designed and well-positioned website is essential for welcoming and connecting both parishioners and visitors to a parish’s mission and ministry.
To better position our congregations in this digital world, we’ve partnered with Worship Times – the team that helped to redesign the diocesan website – to bring a new cost-effective, secure, and robust web design and hosting solution to parishes in the Diocese of Washington.
This new design and hosting solution for congregations offers a number of benefits, including:
- An initial parish website audit to assess needs
- Website design and set-up
- Website hosting
- Easy to use content management system for handling parish news, events, service times, online forms and more
- Rapid support response from the Worship Times team
- Improved search engine optimization (so folks can find you more easily)
- Access to training in best practices for parish websites and social media presence
- Regular and timely site maintenance to ensure peak security
- Option to share diocesan content on parish websites (e.g. Bishop’s sermons and reflections, the Path of Discipleship)
Each parish is unique – and so is each parish website – which is why we made sure this opportunity is not a “one size fits all.” With three tiers of functionality (basic, standard, or advanced) and price points for development between $800 and $4,000 and hosting fees below $50/mo, parishes are able to select what features and site capacity they need for their ministry context.
We’re excited by this opportunity for parishes to work with Worship Times. With years of experience providing design and hosting services for diocesan and parish websites, their friendly and professional team offers knowledge and guidance in the particular aspects that make parish websites successful. They’re also equipped to provide ongoing training and support in optimizing the effectiveness of a successful online presence – another huge plus.
We are confident this new partnership with a trusted vendor will help parishes maximize the potential of their digital “front door.” If this sounds like something your parish would be interested in, please contact Keely Thrall, Director of Communications.
Parish Website Design and Hosting Program – Explanation of Tiers and Costs
Parish leaders wishing to take advantage of the Parish Website Design and Hosting Program are invited to learn more about the three tiers of functionality and associated costs so that they may choose the option best suited for their ministry context.
Basic
Design Fee: $800
Monthly Hosting Fee: $35
Functionality: 2-3 pages with premade template
Standard
Design Fee: $2,000
Monthly Hosting Fee: $35
Functionality: Events managements system, blog, forms, publications, and social media tie-ins
Advanced
Design Fee: $4,000
Monthly Hosting Fee: $47
Functionality: All the functionality of the Standard option, plus: drag and drop template, SEO tools, live streaming tie-ins, and advanced forms and events system