Ordination of Ryan David Wiksell to the Sacred Order of Priests
Three-minute read. Photographs of the ordination of Ryan Wiksell into the Sacred Order of Priests at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kansas City, Missouri.
Bishop Marty’s final diocesan pastoral visit – Christ Episcopal Church, Warrensburg, Missouri
Three-minute read. Photographs of Bishop Marty’s final pastoral visitation as Bishop of West Missouri which took place on Sunday, September 12, 2021, at Christ Episcopal Church, Warrensburg, Missouri.
Church Connect drop-in sessions, schedule changes
Starting Friday, September 3, we are changing the daily drop-in, online Church Connect schedule.
Diocesan Prayer Cycle images are now available to churches in advance
One-minute read. Images of the prayer cycle text are now available in advance for churches to download and share.
New Spirit Update, July 15, 2021
In this issue: the installation of Fr. Isaac Petty at St. Luke’s, the 2021 Annual Diocesan Convention website is now open, Prayer and pain, and much more.
The installation of the Rev. Isaac Petty as Vicar of St. Luke’s, Excelsior Springs
Two-minute read. On the evening of Thursday, July 8, 2021, Fr. Isaac Petty was installed as Vicar of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Excelsior Springs, Missouri. Here are the pictures.
New Spirit Update, July 1, 2021
In this issue: an Episcopal priest’s experience of the 1968 Holy Week riots, St. Matt’s Community Dinner, Reach Out Challenge, and much, much more.
New Spirit Update, June 17, 2021
In this issue: A summer sizzler at St. Matt’s – Ozark, a celebration of 12 years’ work at Christ Church – Springfield, LGBT+ Pride Month, Juneteenth and much, much more.
Community dinners recommence at St. Matthew’s, Ozark
One-minute read. With COVID-19 restrictions lifting, St. Matthew’s, Ozark are restarting their long-running community dinners on June 23 with an old-fashioned picnic.
The Fall and Rise of St. Margaret’s
Four-minute read. I saw it coming in 2014, the closing of my Home church. And here it was being dismantled in 2019. But was all what it seemed?
Church Leadership Essentials resources available online
One-minute read, two-hour video. Over One-hundred church leaders from across the diocese gathered for Church Leadership Essentials, an online event replacing our traditional in-person Bishop’s Days training for church leadership. Here is a link to the material presented, and you can also watch a recording of Saturday’s session if you wish.
Apply now – Free Email and Microsoft 365 for up to 26 Churches
Two-minute read. We are offering a free email account, the Microsoft Office Suite, and 1 TB of online file storage to churches with limited resources. The 2020 Communications budget includes providing up to twenty-six churches with an email address based on their website address and a license for the Microsoft 365 suite of programs.
A Beginner’s Guide to The Book of Common Prayer
Six-minute read. Things I wish I’d been told when I first became an Episcopalian. The Book of Common Prayer can appear quite daunting at first. The good news is that with regular use it becomes very familiar.
Annual Diocesan Convention — Delegates & Clergy Register NOW. Registration closes on October 20.
If you are eligible to Vote and have a seat at the Annual Convention of The Diocese of West Missouri, and you haven’t registered yet, please register now, or you will not be able to vote or speak at the convention.
Annual Convention Update
Three-minute read. Annual Convention is less than a month away and we are constantly adding documents to the Annual Convention website. Nominations are now closed, and the slate of nominees will be published shortly. Here’s a brief summary of where we are.
Special Convention: final resolution text, pictures, and video
Five-minute read. The finalized, non-marked-up text of the 2020 Special Convention Resolution #1, and the attachment approved by the convention on Saturday, October 3, 2020, is now available.
New Administrative Website
One-minute read. When the current diocesan website was first built over six years ago it had a couple of dozen pages or so. Now it has grown to over 270. With all that growth, the content has become more difficult to find and increasingly difficult to manage and update. This summer we have started work on moving all the administrative content to office.diowestmo.org.
Lesson, sermon, and bulletin resources for churches and groups
One-minute Read. We have recently received a few inquiries from people and churches seeking information and resources for lessons and bulletins for their churches. As it has been a while since we discussed the resources available for congregations and groups, here’s a quick summary.
Two Diocesan Conventions to be held in 2020
One-minute read. On Wednesday, July 29, the Executive Committee of the Diocesan Council met to discuss this year’s 131st Annual Convention of The Diocese of West Missouri. At the meeting, it was agreed to call a short Special Convention of the Diocese on Saturday, October 3, at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kansas City. The Special Convention will pave the way for an online Annual Convention on Saturday, November 7.
Anti-racism covenant launched
Three-minute read.Over the past month, 14 bishops of The Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, including our bishop, the Rt. Rev. Martin S. Field, have worked together to produce an anti-racism covenant.
