Faith Formation Resources available on our Christian Formation Page found here.

Bishop Paul's Thirteenth
by Bill Lewellis
Thirteen years ago today, June 29, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, bishops laid hands on Paul V. Marshall in St. Stephen's Pro-Cathedral, Wilkes-Barre, consecrating him as eighth bishop of the 14-county Diocese of Bethlehem. From my perspective, Bishop Paul's ministry among us has been broad and deep: teacher, pastor, preacher, administrator, author, advocate and participant in ministry with people in the developing world, children and youth, the poor and the marginalized, advocate and reconciler with those within the church who consider themselves progressive as well as those who consider themselves traditionalists, interpreter of family systems theory, communicator within and beyond the diocesan community, a leader who consults with colleagues, and a person whose ministry as bishop proceeds from prayer and a contemplative vision of God's kingdom.

Please pray for our bishop as he continues the healing process from open heart surgery earlier this year and confronts the continuing questions of our day and the challenges from the gospel passage (John 21:15-19) proclaimed on the day of his consecration, 13 years ago, about loving God and being taken to difficult places.

Standing Committee: Why we chose not to consent
At the June 4th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Bethlehem, the Committee unanimously voted not to consent to the election of the Rev. Kevin Thew-Forrester as Bishop of the Diocese of Northern Michigan. As with our decision in December 2006 not to consent to the election of a bishop, we believe it is important to explain our decision to the diocese. Please read our full statement on the blog here.

Bishop's Day with Kids - The EXODUS GAMES: Xtreme Faith Stories
Bishop's Day with Kids - The EXODUS GAMES: Xtreme Faith Stories, is now open for registration. Please use our online event registration program found on the right to register. The event is for children in grades 1-5 and will be held Saturday, August 15, 9:30am to 2:30pm, at Cathedral Church of the Nativity, 321 Wyandotte Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015. The required forms referenced in the online registration can be found here for the adults and here for youth.

Discover Christ Alive
by Bishop Paul V. Marshall
A Buddhist master was asked to give a retreat for Christians. Accepting the challenge, he spent time with the New Testament. He began by confessing how surprised he was to find out what was in those short documents. If Christ is resurrected, he said, the posture, attitude and every breath of Christians should show that. Read the whole article here.

Donate Online Now Available
Online donation capability now available for all parishes, New Hope Campaign, Bishop's Discretionary Fund and Diocesan Youth Scholarships in the Diocese of Bethlehem. Click here to donate!

Congregational Development Grants
The application for Congregational Grants for 2010 is now ready for distribution. If you are currently receiving a grant, you will receive a copy of the application. If you are not currently receiving a grant but would like to, please email Jane Teter. The deadline for the applications to be received is July 17, 2009. Applications received after that date will not be considered.

Happening Staff Needed
This year, Happening will take place at none other than Kirby Episcopal House in Mountaintop, PA from November 13-15. The staff application deadline is July 18 and is open to those who have attended a Happening previously. The theme for Happening #19 is “Under the Sea.” We will be exploring many the water scriptures and listening to awesome Little Mermaid tunes, so get pumped! This, of course, gives us a lot of material in the Bible to look through, so get your brain muscles in shape and begin to brainstorm, because we want to have the best Happening possible! You can download the application and letters from the student rectors here.

Peace Scholarships
The Diocesan Peace Commission will award 8 Peace Scholarships to Episcopalians to attend “Creating a Culture of Peace” (CCP) training retreat. The deadline to apply for the $300 scholarships is August 10, 2009. The CCP training is September 10-13, 2009, and runs from Thursday dinner through Sunday lunch at Kirkridge Retreat Center near Stroudsburg. The full cost of the training retreat, including room and board, is $395.  Scholarship recipients will be awarded $300 and will pay the remaining $95 themselves. Episcopalians Janet Chisholm and Fran Hlavacek will lead the training. CCP training responds to General Convention resolutions and funding to develop a culture of peace and nonviolence and to make nonviolence training and peace education available throughout the Episcopal Church. This is the second CCP training for the Diocese of Bethlehem. Apply for Scholarship:  Mary Louise Bross, mlb2@lehigh.edu, 610-691-2684 or 610-248-0030. Download the complete flyer here.

Charlie Barebo joins Bishop Paul's staff
Charlie Barebo has joined Bishop Paul Marshall's staff as Development Officer. "Charlie is doing this as a gift to the diocese, as part of his discipleship, for which I am most grateful," Bishop Paul said earlier, announcing the appointment. "Charlie is the backbone of our New Hope Campaign and has much to bring us. Please join me in gratitude to God for this unique appointment to the staff." Bishop Paul received the gift after reviewing a five-year plan presented by Barebo. Read more here.

From the Office of Public Affairs, Episcopal Church
Live Webcast to Address General Convention 2009 Questions
General Convention 2009 of the Episcopal Church was the topic of a live webcast on Wednesday, May 13 at 8 am Pacific (9 am Mountain, 10 am Central, 11 am Eastern). Click here to view it.

Blue Book and General Convention
The Blue Book for the General Convention 2009 of The Episcopal Church is ready to be mailed. In addition, it can be downloaded here. For more information about General Convention, check here. For a list of Celebrants and preachers, check here.

Archbishop of Canterbury, Presiding Bishop, HOD President, panel examine global economic crisis at Episcopal Church General Convention forum
[June 23, 2009] The General Convention of The Episcopal Church will examine economic issues facing the world through a forum featuring Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson, and three prominent lay leaders in the Anglican Communion.

Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori and President Anderson are hosting Christian Faithfulness in the Global Economic Crisis on Wednesday, July 8 at from 6:15 pm to 7:30 pm Pacific in the Pacific Ballroom of the Anaheim Hilton. (7:15 pm to 8:30 pm Mountain, 8:15 pm to 9:30 pm, Central, 9:15 pm to 10:30 pm Eastern.) The forum will be webcast live. You can view it here.

Strategic Planning Committee maps the future for The Episcopal Church
[June 24, 2009] A newly named Strategic Planning Committee has already set to work, announcing that its first step will be to solicit opinions from throughout The Episcopal Church...To do so, the Strategic Planning Committee developed survey and encourages all Episcopalians to complete it. The survey is currently in English; Spanish and French will be available shortly. To access the survey click here. The deadline to complete the survey is July 28, 2009.

In Palmerton
St. John's Relay for Life
[From Deb Craig] About 30 parishioners, family and friends participated May 30th/31st in the annual Relay for Life, twenty-four hour event. We dedicated our walk to Barbara Burns, a 21 year survivor. Barbara was accompanied once again by her husband Barry and daughters and granddaughters. For our 2nd year of participation, $2,187. 00 was raised between fundraisers and contributions by teams, Ray of Hope #1 and #2. To read more and see photos, check out St. John's web site link here.

In Scranton
Evangelism Road Trip
[From Warren Shotto] A contingent of people on a summer service trip from St. Phillip’s church in New Hope and Trinity in Buckingham , Pa is coming to Good Shepherd the last week of July. Led by Rev. Peter Pearson, they will be helping us with the “sweat equity” projects in the undercroft, bowling alley and kitchen while they are here. They are staying at the Fatima retreat center and we will be providing lunch and dinner for the entourage for the week they are here. [editor's note: Good Shepherd, Scranton is one of the parishes that have been granted New Hope funds to convert their undercroft to an emergency homeless shelter. Check out the YouTube links from St. Philip's taken when they did an initial visit on May 14th]

In Jim Thorpe
St. Mark's and St. John's is collecting memories
St. Mark's and St. John's of Jim Thorpe was recently featured in an article by Al Zagofsky of the Times News regarding its upcoming 175th anniversary. The article highlighted the unique historical challenge that the merger of the two churches presents to the current congregation. The church has some beautiful and quite important memorials including Tiffany stained glass windows. The church has requested if you have any documents, photographs, mementos, or artifacts related to St. Mark's or St. John's, please contact Suzy Esrang at markjhn1@ptd.net.To read the whole article and see pictures, click here.

Upcoming Events
July 8-17: General Convention of The Episcopal Church, Anaheim, CA.
July 12-15: Opening the Gates, Nativity, Bethlehem. More info below.
July 25-Aug. 1: Sr. High Mission Trip, grades 9-12, to help the Diocese of Louisiana rebuild lives and homes destroyed by hurricanes Katrina and Gustav. More info here.
Aug. 15: Bishop's Day with Kids. See note above.

For the full Diocesan Calendar, download the latest one from the news blog here.

Opening the Gates
July 12-15
An experience in urban ministry and residential “camp”program for High School Students hosted by the Cathedral Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem. Learn, Live, Love, Grow, Serve Homelessness, Poverty, Literacy. Featuring Food, Fun, Fellowship, ”Nightprayer” in the Cathedral. Sunday night through Wednesday afternoon. Register by Contacting Dsmith@nativitycathedral.org or by calling 610-865-0727 $25 per registrant. Download the flyer here.

Safeguarding God's Children - See Church Administration