Province 1's Synod and Pre-convention gathering will take place on Friday, April 13 - Saturday April 14, 2012 at the Doubletree Hotel in Westborough MA.  You can find information about the hotel and driving directions here. In addition to Friday night, a small block of rooms have been held on Thursday evening for those wishing to come the night before.  You will need to make your own lodging reservations. We anticipate that this will be the schedule:

Friday April 13

9:30-1 Prov 1 Synod
(Synod) Lunch
2-5 General Convention Office - The Rev. Canon Gregory Straub, Executive Officer and Secretary of the General Convention and others
5-7 (Pre-Conv) Reception and dinner
7-7:30 Denominational Health Plan/Lay Pension PLan
7:30-9:00 TEC Restructuring

Saturday, April 14

8  Continential Breakfast (coffee, tea, juice, fruit, muffins) available
9-11 Presenation by the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music -- Deacon Stan Baker (deputy from Vermont) and VT Bishop Tom Ely
11 til done - Other updates from groups like the Standing Commission on Ministry Development

More details will be posted as they become available. We are also working on an online registration and payment process which will be added in the Spring. For more information, contact Julie Lytle, Province I's executive director, via email.

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Bishop Tom Ely dedicated solar panels in VT.  

Click here for ENS story of the May 5, 2012 event.

NH, RI and WMA to select Bishops

   New Hampshire diocese names three nominees for bishop coadjutor - Election May 19

By ENS staff | March 15, 2012
The Diocese of New Hampshire’s Bishop Search and Nomination Committee March 15 announced a three-nominee slate for a bishop coadjutor to succeed Bishop V. Gene Robinson. The nominees include:

   5 nominees for bishop of Episcopal Diocese of Western Mass. named - Election June 2

(Article by Bronislaus B Kush, Telegram & Gazette Staff bkush@telegram.com)

  The panel charged with drawing up the slate of nominees to replace retiring Bishop Gordon P. Scruton, the spiritual head of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts which includes Worcester County, apparently cast a wide net — selecting candidates from Connecticut, New York, Idaho and California.

Church officials this evening announced that five clerics, one of them a woman, are under consideration to become the diocese's ninth bishop. They are:

• the Very Rev. Richard A. Demarest, 55, the dean at St. Michael's Cathedral in Boise, Idaho;
• the Rev. Dr. Douglas John Fisher, 57, the rector at Grace Church in Millbrook, N.Y.;
• the Rev. Nancy Gossling, 60, the rector of St. James' Church in Glastonbury, Conn.;
• the Very Rev. Ron W. Griffin, 58, the rector of Christ Church in Eureka, Ca., and
• the Very Rev. Mark B. Pendleton, 49, the dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford.

 The candidates will meet with clergy and laity during “walk-about” visits the week of May 21. The election itself will take place June 2 at Christ Church Cathedral in Springfield. Church officials said that, because the election falls within 120 days of the start of the July meeting of the national Episcopal Church's 77th General Convention, that body must consent to the bishop-elect's ordination.

 Slate for the 13th Bishop of Rhode Island 
(information from http://www.episcopalrisearch.org) - Election June 2

The Search and Nomination Committee has selected five priests to stand for election as the 13^th Bishop of Rhode Island. No additional nominations were received during the petition period. The nominees for bishop are:

• the Rev. Kurt Dunkle, 50, rector, Grace Episcopal Church, Orange Park, Fla. (Diocese of Florida);
• the Rev. Cathy George, 55, currently on a writing sabbatical; former priest-in-charge, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Dorchester, Mass. (Diocese of Massachusetts);
• the Very Rev. Nicholas Knisely, 51, dean, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Phoenix, Ariz. (Diocese of Arizona);
• the Rev. Ledlie Laughlin, 52, rector, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, Pa. (Diocese of Pennsylvania);
• the Rev. Jennifer Pedrick, 45, rector, Church of the Epiphany, Rumford, R.I. (Diocese of Rhode Island). 

The nominees will visit the diocese May 11 – 12, including an all-day public event on Saturday, May 12, at St. Andrew’s School in Barrington, where they will make remarks and answer questions from lay and clergy attendees.

The 13th Bishop of Rhode Island will be elected at a special diocesan convention on Saturday, June 2, at St. Paul’s Church in Pawtucket. Because the election will occur close in time to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in July, church canons provide for the required consents to be sought from the bishops and deputies at General Convention. Subject to obtaining that consent, the bishop-elect will be ordained as Bishop of Rhode Island at a ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 17, at St. George’s School in Middletown. 

The Province I Synod met via audio conference on Nov 18. There were two notable decisions (See attached minutes). First, we agreed to shift the line item budget for network activities into a pot for mini-grants. Our hope is to inspire new collaborative efforts and fuel current efforts in the Province. Watch for the grant process description and proposal process in the coming weeks. Second, Julie invited Synod delegates to meet via webconference in the three months leading up to our April 13-14 Synod and Pre-General Convention gathering. These meetings will be on the fourth Tuesday of the month:
Jan 24 - Monthly Delegates Web Conference, 9 am ET
Feb 28 - Monthly Delegates Web Conference, 9 am ET
Mar 27 - Monthly Delegates Web Conference, 9 am ET

In addition to increased communication, the goal is to identify efforts within the dioceses which would be strengthened by cross-diocesan collaboration and to support one another's efforts. I will be scheduling time between now and mid-Jan to talk with each delegate one-on-one and to test web conferencing ability. (DELEGATES, please note: To participate in a live web conference, delegates will need a computer, a high speed internet access, and telephone. Phone-only participation will be possible if these are not available).

Synod delegates are now meeing via webconference. Scheduled the fourth Tuesday of each month, the goal is to both increase communication across dioceses and to identify efforts within the dioceses which would be strengthened by cross-diocesan collaboration. The first priority is to help inspire use of the new Province I GROWING GOD'S MISSION GRANTS by identifying ways to support one another's efforts. It is also a time for us to prepare for the Synod and Preconvention Gathering in Westboro April 12-13 and for the General Convention July 5-12, 2012.

The next meeting are:
Feb 28 - Monthly Delegates Web Conference, 9 am ET
Mar 27 - Monthly Delegates Web Conference, 9 am ET

There is much for us to prayerfully consider and discuss. Remember that in addition to providing information, this site provides all Province members the opportunity to create a profile and participate in interactive forums by posting comments, concerns, and insights. If you don't know how to use the site, please let me know. Also, let me, Julie Lytle executive.director@province1.org, know if there are ways your Province can help you better serve God's Mission.

Welcome to the Province 1 Online Community. Please make yourself at home!

This is more than a website where you can gather information: it's also a virtual community where you can meet, work, and interact with other people who share God's Mission. What you see in this corner of cyberspace will be what we — Episcopalians of New England and our friends from around the world — build.

Think of this space as a kind of model home in our virtual village. Take a walk around and see some of how we can:

• create pages that post news, photos, audio, and video;
• publicize events on calendars that let the whole province know about your gatherings;
• publish blogs as leaders in ministry networks to share insights, and where all members can comment;
• interact in forums to discuss, collaborate, share thoughts and works in progress, and connect with colleagues and friends;
• collect libraries of resources, generated by the community, for use in your ministries; … and much more!

... and much much more

We're constantly building new spaces to engage one another — kitchens where you can cook up something in a creative and supportive environment, living and family rooms where you can cluster for fellowship and stimulating conversation, studies and studios where resources are produced, and chapels where, in the midst of our busy lives, we can take time to pray and share the best of our liturgy.

Please click on the 'Login' button on the red menu above to get started by creating your USERNAME and PASSWORD. (NOTE: This is a two-step process.  The Exec Dir needs to "approve" you as a way to combat spam.) Once you have been approved, you will receive an email that gives you access to areas of the site.  Please go to Forums (also in the red menu above) and write a brief introduction. Visit the Ministry Networks page to see what networks of lay and ordained ministers — and we're all ministers by Baptism — are doing in the dioceses of New England. Join networks by commenting on their blogs and forums. And if there's an arena of ministry that you're passionate about and want to help gather others around, propose a new network in the forums.