Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Thank you all for the encouraging emails and texts and FB messages about Diocesan Convention. Gathering with you in common faith and mutual joy has energized and delighted me! It’s a gift to know that so many of you feel the same way. Thanks to the Alexandria Convocation for doing such a fabulous job hosting our Convention and to the Commission on Liturgy and Music for crafting such meaningful worship!
Now what will we do with the energy, excitement, fellowship, and vision we shared last weekend? We will take the next step. Share with your congregations the vision of the beloved community. Take time to consider the practices that make your congregation vital and form strategies for supporting and enhancing these practices.
In my sermons I will begin speaking more intentionally about core Christian practices. So I encourage you to keep an eye on Pelican Anglican or tune in to my audio sermons.
I also plan to continue to gather with the Commissions for the purpose of retasking toward congregational vitality. But I also charge the chairs of these Commissions to establish monthly meetings to begin visioning how they can help encourage vitality in their specific ministry area.
I am also available for midweek visits to offer a teaching about Christian practices and congregational vitality. Once St. John’s calls a new Rector, Fr. Bill Bryant will also be available as my new Canon for Congregational Vitality.
There is one piece of late-breaking news I want to share. Just before the Convention opened, Jamie Simon notified me that he could no longer serve as chair of the Commission for Youth and Youth Adults. His work situation has become too demanding to devote the time he needed. I want to thank Jamie for his work in the past.
Brooks Boylan has accepted my call to serve as the chair of the Commission for Youth and Young Adults, and I thank Brooks for taking on the challenge with very short notice. He has already called a meeting of the Commission and we can look for some exciting ministry from that energetic group.
Let me encourage you once again to help me stay in touch with you. Send me a friend request on Facebook. Subscribe to Pelican Anglican. Listen to my sermons at http://sermon.net/bishopjake.
Here’s how to subscribe to Pelican Anglican by email. Go to http://pelicananglican.blogspot.com. Enter your email address in the box that says “Follow by Email.” Hit submit and follow the instructions. You will receive an email from FeedBurner in your email inbox. Open that email and click the link inside that email to verify your subscription. It only takes a couple of minutes. Once you’re done, you will receive an excerpt from each new post to alert you that something new is available to read.
Prefer listening to sermons? Go to http://sermon.net/bishopjake. Click the sermon you want to hear. You can subscribe to these podcasts as well, but an explanation will have to wait for another time. Please note, some Pelican Anglican posts are essays and will not appear in audio form.
As always, you can simply go to the web and click the appropriate links for both my blog and my audio sermons.
The Holy Spirit is moving in our Diocese! He is binding us together in love, equipping us with gifts, filling us with godly power, and sending us on a great adventure. We are motivated by the power of God’s love. What a joy and a privilege it is to serve you and love you as your bishop!
In Christ’s Love,
.
The Rt. Rev. Jacob W. Owensby, Ph.D.
The Diocese of Western Louisiana
P. O. Box 2031, Alexandria, LA 71309-2031
bishopjake@diocesewla.org
http://pelicananglican.blogspot.com
http://sermon.net/bishopjake
