DOK Assembly 2017: Report

Members of the Daughters of the King met at Grace Church, Carlsbad on July 28-29 for the annual Diocesan Assembly. Redeeming Grace Chapter offered wonderful hospitality in the form of delicious food, lovely décor, and friendly hearts. The theme was Turning Sorrow into Dancing. Attendees explored how the Daughters of the King work of prayer, service, and evangelism is a way of Turning Sorrow into Dancing, and in that way bringing about the Kingdom of God.

The Rev. Canon Raymond Raney was the keynote speaker for the event. He urged the women to believe in their own individual and communal strength. Using writers like Joyce Rupp, Julian of Norwich, Debie Thomas, and others, Raney urged the women to surrender to God’s work in our lives. On Saturday morning, Raney reminded the Daughters that it was exactly 43 years earlier that the first 12 women were ordained as priest in the Episcopal Church. While noting that sometimes it takes a long time for the work of the Holy Spirit to bear fruit, Raney urged everyone to look at the women in the Bible for inspiration. In fact, he stated that in the Eastern Orthodox tradition Mary herself said ‘no’ six times before saying ‘yes’ to God’s request. Raney commented that Daughters are called to stand before the church to say Prayer Matters and that we can all be cherished, fed, loved, blessed, and our work endorsed by God.

In his final talk, Canon Raney reminded everyone that feeding is an intrinsically female activity in all cultures. By choosing the fruit in the Garden, Eve helped humanity move from infancy to adulthood, and ultimately to be redeemed. The Tree of Life in the Garden becomes the Cross and is the way through which we gain eternal life. Our responsibility is to bring everyone to Freedom by caring for those around us, even those we have yet to meet. Raney gave each woman an apple to remind attendees that women can chose who we are and who we can be. (Episcopal Café recently had a post that elaborated on what he said: https://www.episcopalcafe.com/from-the-daily-sip-eves-apple/) God is preparing each of us now for the new beginning. We can choose what kind of church we want to create as we share what we live for, who we are, and who we will be. Daughters have chosen to feed the world through their prayer and service which nurtures and cares for everyone.  

A special gift for the women was an anthem written especially for this Assembly by Fr. Mike Gemigini, the Province 7 DOK Chaplain. During the business meeting, grants of $500 each were awarded to four ministries. Saranam in Albuquerque which provides housing and supplies for those who are homeless and the Cathedral Front Desk Sack Lunch ministry which gives out over 400 lunches weekly to the homeless in the downtown area at a cost of only $1.60/lunch received a gift. The Mustard Seed Babies Home in Uganda and the Carlsbad LifeHouse ministry for addicts were also provided grants.  There is currently just over $12,000 in the DOK bank account, some of which is designated for Jr. Daughters, the Chaplain’s fund, and Triennial expenses for the president.

Diocesan President, Cindy Davis urged the Daughters present to remember that they are not just a group that meets for fellowship or even for Bible study and prayer. Rather, we are an international sisterhood who take vows of Prayer, Service, and Evangelism for the spread of the Kingdom. We pray for the ‘grace to work to spread your Kingdom, and gather your scattered sheep within your fold’. In doing this we become part of the work of the Holy Spirit that calls us to dance and come close to the heart of God. Because we are a community, when we gather as chapters, or in Assembly and at Triennial, we are meeting with family and sisters who are committed to the same goals.

Cindy asked each Chapter present to become prayer partners both with another chapter present, and with a chapter that was unable to attend. This will be a way to reach across the miles and share our sisterhood throughout the diocese as we share prayer needs, service ideas, and maybe even fellowship opportunities. Daughters are also encouraged to be in the forefront of prayer for the Search, Election, and Consecration of the next Bishop of the Diocese.

Chaplain, Mother Jan Hosea offered spiritual guidance throughout the weekend and invited anyone interested to attend the “Healing the Brokenhearted” series at St. Chad’s every Thursday from August 24-September 28. This is a grief group for those dealing with any grief such as loss of a family member, job, home situation, or other grief. Contact her (revjan@stjchadsabq.org) if you are interested.

The Daughters collected items for the Carlsbad Back Packs for Hunger program. Carol Worley, founder, spoke to the women about the program which started six years ago with 10 children at 2 schools. These children were identified as needing food assistance. The program now provides back packs full of food for 8 meals that up to 208 children take home on Friday. Children who need help are identified by counselors, school staff, bus drivers, and other concerned persons. Last year about 7200 back packs were filled. The budget of $83,000 is totally funded by donations. The free will offering from the Eucharist was donated to the program, too.

It was a time of sharing and inspiration as the Daughters present gathered to pray, laugh, and talk together. A nominating committee was appointed to develop a slate of officers for the 2018 Assembly. That Assembly will be August 3-4, 2018 at the Bosque Center. St. Chad’s Chapter will be the host chapter. Deborah Smith Douglas, dynamic speaker and author will be the keynote speaker. Her talks will be open to all women. You are invited to contact Dona Ace at St. Chad’s (acedona@gmail.com) to get a copy of Douglas’ book The Praying Life.

Canon Raney's Bibliography for his talks can be downloaded here. 

Prov. 7 Board Meeting and Assembly, April 21-22, 2017

The theme of the Triennium in Province 7 has been Micah 6:8 “To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” This year’s focus was “Love mercy”. As always, Assembly was a time of fellowship and joyous worship, as well as learning about what is going on in the Order and hearing about new ministry opportunities. Nearly 120 Daughters from around the Province assembled at Church of the Incarnation in Dallas, including 4 from the Diocese of the Rio Grande. (Deborah Tischler, Elaine Brink, Marta Gallegos, Cindy Davis-from L to R in front of the Welcome Center entrance)

The Prov. 7 Board (all Diocesan Presidents, plus the Provincial Board) met before Assembly started. Denise Rox, Provincial Prayer Chair offered an opening devotion about how the 7 ways of Corporal Mercy and the 7 forms of Spiritual Mercy are the ways Daughters live their lives of Prayer and Service. 

The Board reviewed the necessary By-Laws change that will bring Provincial By-Laws into compliance with National By-Laws regarding DAL. These were approved during the Assembly Business Meeting. A committee to review the entire Provincial By-Laws was formed as well to review and as necessary revise the By-Laws.

Diocesan Presidents were reminded to encourage Chapter Presidents to notify the National Office of the death of any Daughter. It is the only way the National Office can keep up with this data. Another important item is DUES. Diocesan Presidents were urged to help their chapter presidents collect dues, as the transition to online payment seems to be a problem for some women. One suggestion was to have a computer available at a chapter meeting to help Daughters pay online.

Provincial Jr. DOK funds are available for JDOK chapters to use for growth and for sending directresses, and potential directresses to JDOK camps and events, like directress retreats. A grant application will be available on the Provincial website (dokprov7.org). A Jr. Directress retreat is not just for current directresses, but for any woman who might want to start JDOK in their parish. The next one is July 13-16 in Belton, TX. Info on the Provincial website (http://dokprov7.org/calendar.html).

The Business meeting was called to order on Saturday morning in the lovely, newly completed Ascension Chapel of the Church of the Incarnation in Dallas. The ladies were warmly welcomed the Incarnation chapter and Jr. Daughters.

Because of Triennial in June of 2018, it was decided to NOT have a Provincial Assembly in 2018. Provincial Officers were elected at the business meeting to take office at Triennial 2018. Provincial President Pat Hind asked that we get a Province 7 Banner in time for Triennial in 2018 so we can be represented in that way. If anyone knows of a fabric artist, please be in touch.

It was noted that there are resources available for Chapter Enhancement. Fr. Mike Gemangani has a program that can be presented as a workshop (download from the Prov. 7 website). There are some funds available from the Province to help fund a workshop. There are also resources from the National Office, and more are being created.

Grants were awarded in the amount of $400 to a ministry in each diocese. The Backpacks for Hunger program in Carlsbad was the Diocese of the Rio Grande recipient. (Carol Waller of this program will be one of the speakers at Assembly in Carlsbad this year.) The Eucharist offering was divided between the 3 Dallas ministries who were the guest speakers.

Two representatives from the National Council were present at the Assembly: Lori Geres (Media chair) and Susan Keith (By-Laws chair). Lori shared some of the data gathered from the DOK survey last year, and how that is being used to formulate strategic plans for the future of the Order. This involves talking about prayer, spiritual direction, formulating plans for the women who come after us, recommitting to the work of DOK, and continuing (or beginning) to talk about DOK. 

Susan Keith spoke about the process for ‘cleaning up’ the current by-laws. Over the years, sections have been added that should more logically go in a different location…i.e. membership under members and chapter info under chapters. This will all be presented at Triennial next year. It is not a revision of the by-laws as much as necessary adjustments for coherence and clarity. All the changes will be publicized well in advance of Triennial.

Fr. Mike Gemangani, Provincial Chaplain and keynote speaker compared God’s mercy to the love of a spouse to spouse. We do not come pleading for mercy to our spouse. In the same way, God loves us as a Bride in transforming union. Fr. Mike noted that God shows greater compassion to us than we do to ourselves. God’s mercy is chesed or loving-kindness and God gives each of us nothing less than all of God. We need to have mercy toward ourselves and accept the gift of the Incarnation. Our return to God is to give ourselves, which draws all Creation to God. God renews God’s love to us and we renew our love to God. Through this, all Creation is renewed.

After lunch, we heard from three local outreach ministries. Bonton Farms is a ministry that helps inner-city children and families find employment, grows food, and offers opportunities both on the farm and in the community to improve the quality of life.

Incarnation House is an outreach of the Church of the Incarnation. It is an after-school program for the low income, at risk students of Dallas High School, which is across the street from the church. The youth must commit to the program and participate. Meals, tutoring, and other assistance is offered, including help with getting into college.

The final ministry reaches out to men who have just been released from prison. Called One Man’s Treasure it helps with 5 shirts, 2 pants, a tie, underwear, shoes, and coat so that these men can go on interviews. Each set is delivered by a male volunteer ‘shepherd’ who offers a listening ear along with the dignity and hope of the fresh clothing. Of the 104 shepherds, 30% are former clients.

Church of the Incarnation was a lovely location for Assembly, and we enjoyed the hospitality of everyone there. Remember to start saving and planning now to attend Triennial on June 20-24 at the Renaissance at the Arboretum in Austin, TX. Watch the Royal Cross for more details.

Mark your calendars for Diocesan Assembly 2017 is July 28-29 at Grace Church, Carlsbad with the theme of Sorrow into Dancing. Bishop Vono is the keynote speaker. 

In 2018, we will meet at the Bosque Center in Albuquerque the first weekend in August for officer elections and other business. Deborah Smith Douglas will be our speaker. 

Prayer Support for Provincial/Diocesan Assembly

The Daughters of the King of the Diocese of the Rio Grande are invited to join in prayer for the upcoming Provincial/Diocesan Assembly on April 10-11. Ann Merrick, our Prayer/Devotions Chair has gathered some beautiful prayers for us to use.

Even if you cannot be present, you can support the Assembly in prayer. If you want you can download the prayers to print and share.

 

May the words of our mouths, and the meditations of our hearts,*
Be always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.  Amen.

April 1 & 2:
May the blessings of light be upon your Daughters,
Light without and light within,
And in all our comings and goings,
May we Your Daughters ever have a kindly greeting
From those we meet along the road.  Amen

April 3 & 4:
Lord, before we your Daughters gather in assembly, we place ourselves before You, for You are filled with beauty and light and care deeply about us. Help us to listen to Your voice. Help us to respect and understand Your purposes. Help us to value and appreciate our fellow Daughters who we are soon to meet. May Your light enfold use. May Your Spirit guide us. May Your grace abound in us. We make this prayer through Christ the Lord. Amen.
 

April 5 & 6:
Look upon us, Lord, as we prepare to assemble and let all the darkness of our souls vanish before the beams of your brightness. Fill your Daughters with holy love, and open to us the treasures of your wisdom. You know all our desires, therefore, perfect what You have begun and what Your Spirit has awakened us to ask in prayer. We seek your face. Turn Your face towards us and show us your glory. Then shall all our longing be satisfied and our peace shall be perfect. Amen.   (Adapted from St. Augustine)
 

April 7 & 8:
Teach Your Daughters as we prepare to assemble to seek You, and reveal Yourself to us as we seek; for unless You instruct us we cannot seek You, and unless You reveal Yourself we cannot find You. Let us seek You in desiring You; let us desire You in seeking You; let us find You in loving You; let us love You in finding You.  Amen (St. Anselm of Canterbury)

April 9 & 10:
O God, our heavenly Father, whose glory fills the whole creation, and whose presence we find wherever we go:  Preserve those who travel; surround them with your loving care; protect them from every danger; and bring them in safety to their journey's end; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  (From the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer.)

April 11:
God Our Father, we, your Daughters, thank You for having called us to assemble that we may humbly serve You.  Send Your Holy Spirit upon us and remain present among us to lead us in the conversation, fellowship, meeting, discussion, and worship, we will have. Bless our words and thoughts with holiness that we may be fitting instruments of Your grace. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen

Gathering Together

Special Thanks to the St. Chad's Daughters and to the Santa Rosa Chapter at St. Andrew's, Las Cruces for their hospitality in hosting the Christmas and Epiphany Parties. The food and fellowship were wonderful at both events and everyone enjoyed getting to know other Daughters.

Thanks to Sandy Martin who shared the story of her journey to being a Daughter and what it has meant to her Christian walk. It was a beautiful testimony!

Our next chance to gather will be at the Province 7 Assembly on April 10-11 at the Cathedral in Albuquerque. Plan to attend and meet Daughters from around the Province to give them a nice big Diocese of the Rio Grande welcome. We will hold our Diocesan elections and short business meeting as part of the Provincial Assembly, so it is important for you to attend.

Meanwhile, consider working with your chapter, or as an individual to complete the DOK Ministry Review, a series of 3 sessions that reviews and renews our Daughters of the King vows and life.

Province 7 Assembly: April 11-13, 2014 in San Antonio

Dear Sisters in Christ

Registration information for the Province VII Assembly is now available! This should be a lovely time of celebration with Daughters from around the Province. The theme is "The Great Commission" and speakers will be Fr. Mike Gemiganai (Prov. 7 Chaplain), the Rev. Clayton Elder & Samira Izadi of Gateway of Grace.

We gather on Friday evening for fellowship and Eucharist. After a light breakfast on Saturday, April 12, there will be a brief business meeting followed by the speakers. After dinner, we will close with Taize-always a lovely and reflective service.

Registration costs $75 and rooms are available at the Fairfield Inn across the street from St. Thomas, San Antonio for $95/night. Certainly a reasonable price, esp. if you can find a friend to share with.

You can download the registration form from the Prov. 7 website. If that doesn't work, contact Cindy for an emailed pdf of the registration.

Hope to see many of you there!

Province 7 Board Meeting

Over the weekend of September 6-8, the Province 7 DOK Board met in Gruene, TX. It was a fun time for diocesan presidents and other provincial officers to get together, share news, learn new things, and celebrate being sisters in Christ.

All of us stayed at the delightful and lovely Gruene Mansion Inn, a B&B right on the Guadalupe River.

On Saturday afternoon, a trio of deer wandered through the trees right outside our rooms while some of us were relaxing on the porch! (No deer in this photo, sadly, but still a lovely view.)

There were 5 of us in this particular room. Two of us (me and Andrea from the Diocese of Arkansas) got to climb the winding staircase to our bedroom. It was like sleeping in an attic-a very nice attic! Next door, most of the executive board shared another suite and other presidents had equally lovely rooms nearby.

Breakfast was the luscious B&B banquet. We dined on delicious food in the Gristmill Restaurant next door (the building really used to be a mill). Some of us took a walking tour of Gruene, which has historic buildings still in use for shops and restaurants...and this delightful duck in front of one shop!

Our meeting time was at St. Francis on the Lake, a few miles from the Inn. We heard from Prov. Pres. Brenda Amos about the need for completing forms correctly for the National office. Did you know nearly any form needed can be found on the DOK website? We discussed the idea of a Going Deeper study for Daughters which will be developed by our Prov. Chaplain, Fr. Mike.
The Service chair, Marilyn, is collecting ideas of service projects that can be replicated. If you have a wonderful project, email the idea to her, along with a contact name and photo of the project. One idea shared at the meeting was to have each Daughter fill a purse with toiletries and beauty products which can be donated to a Woman's Shelter in your area! Simple, but very necessary because many of the women in domestic abuse shelters have had to leave all their cosmetics and other feminine necessities behind.
Joy, newly appointed Evangelism chair, reminded us that the basis of Evangelism is telling your story. Our Communication chair, Robin, continues to work hard to help us all be more tech-savvy--It's quite a task, but we appreciate her efforts. There will be a Jr. Daughters retreat at Camp Allen the first weekend in November at Camp Allen. Tory, JDOK chair hopes that Jr's from around the Province will be able to attend.
We were reminded that Daughters at Large are a very important part of the Order, even if they are not part of a Chapter. Anita, the DAL chair, pointed out that as Diocesan Presidents we should determine why women are 'at-large' and help them get into or form a chapter if they can.

Most of us went to St. Francis by the Lake for Sunday services before heading for the San Antonio airport. We all look forward to returning to San Antonio next April for Province 7 Assembly!

Dates for your Calendars
Prov. 7 Assembly: April 11-13, 2014 at St. Thomas, San Antonio, TX
In 2015, Provincial Assembly will be held in conjunction with DOK Triennial in UT. (at the Zermatt/Homestead Resort in Midway, UT). Start saving now so you can send a representative to the joint Provincial and Triennial Assembly! You only have to save for one trip in 2015!
Missy Denney, National Council Advisor, asked that photos of Daughters busy with activities be emailed to her between now and 2015 for the Triennial slide show.

Fr. Mike shared a moving meditation, which I'll post next time.

Images from Assembly 2013 "We are One in the Spirit...And we Pray

Over 50 Daughters of the King from around the Diocese convened at All Saint’s Episcopal Church in El Paso on August 2-3. Members came from as far east as Alpine, TX and as far west as Silver City, NM. Others came from Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Roswell, Ruidoso and El Paso. During the business session outreach grants of just over $200 each were awarded to 4 ministries supported by Chapters in the Diocese. These included the Medical Mission to Honduras by Shepherd’s Daughters of Silver City and the Mission to Croatia (out of St. James’, Alpine). The Diocesan Borderlands Ministry and Rape Crisis of Central NM were also recipients.

The theme for Assembly 2013 was “We are One in the Spirit…and we Pray”. Time was spent sharing concrete ideas about how to pray more actively within and beyond our Chapters. The Daughters were inspired by keynote speaker, the Rev. Melinda St. Clair, rector of All Saints. Mother Melinda spoke on the theme of the weekend, with reference to The Cloud of Unknowing, her own experiences, and St. Teresa of Avila. She noted that although we can pray with our intellect, mystic prayer experiences require surrender to being in an intimate and supernatural relationship with God. You can read more about her talk and Assembly activities here on this blog in upcoming weeks! Enjoy images from the weekend below:



Dues and News

Registration info for the August 2-3 Assembly at All Saint's, El Paso is on its way to you and available here. 

The Theme for Assembly is "...and We Pray". Our speakers will be the Rev. Melinda St. Clair (Rector All Saints) and Sister Emily Louise! There will be a (short) business meeting and interesting retreat time. We are starting on Friday evening in hopes that more of our working Daughters can attend without having to take as much time off.

If you haven't already signed up for the monthly National DOK email Newsletter: Cross Links, you should do so! This month features information about our International Daughters. The Newsletter is a great way to keep up with National happenings between the Quarterly issues of the Royal Cross! There's a link on every page of the National website. Just enter your email address.

Looking forward to seeing you all in El Paso!

And-It's that time of year again. Chapter Presidents and Treasurers will be collecting Dues!

Remember the annual dues is $40 for this fiscal year. (Jr. Daughters are still $15.) Dues should be paid by mid summer, so your chapter can be current at the start of the Fiscal year: September 1!

You MAY pay your dues online. For Chapter members it is probably easiest to give your Chapter Pres. or Treasurer a check so one check can be sent in with everyone's payment. If you do pay online, be sure to inform your Chapter Treasurer so they can mark you paid on the list!

If you have missed a year (or 2) of dues, you can become current by paying the $40 this year. When you become 3 years past due, there's a new 'reinstatement' process that has to happen before you can be officially a Daughter again. So, it pays to pay! The By Laws say: When a Daughter has not paid her dues for two fiscal years (the fiscal year runs from Sept 1- Aug 31) she is dropped from the records at the National Office. For the purposes of the reinstatement bylaws, "not in good standing" means "dropped from the membership records." Your Chapter President has a list of who the National office shows as in danger of being dropped for non-payment.

Dues Abatement: There's some confusion about this new piece of the Bylaws. Here's what the Bylaws say: Chapter Relief Status: Upon reaching the age of 85 a Daughter may apply through her chapter or diocesan assembly president for relief of the obligation to pay dues. Upon approval of her application she would be relieved from paying national, provincial and diocesan dues for the remainder of her life. NOTICE it is MAY APPLY THROUGH CHAPTER or DIOCESE. The part not spelled out is that this is not automatic and that it should be used ONLY for Daughters who really have financial issues. If everyone who's 85 uses the offer, our Daughter's coffers will soon be empty.

Did you know that the Diocese gets $10/paid Daughter? We have 330+ Daughters in the Diocese of the Rio Grande. If everyone pays, that gives us $3300/year to use for things like grants, which are voted on at Diocesan Assembly.

Province 7 Assembly

Last Friday and Saturday over 125 women from across Province 7 gathered at All Soul's Episcopal Church in Oklahoma City for the Prov. 7 Assembly. There were 4 of us from the Diocese of the Rio Grande. Next year, let's aim for more participation.

The Assembly opened with Eucharist on Thursday, presided over by Bishop Ed K. of the Diocese of Oklahoma. Saturday, following a delicious continental breakfast, a short business meeting was held. Part of the business included approving the budget and outreach gifts of $260 for each of the Dioceses. The DRG had decided to sponsor Wings Ministry this year. The offering from the Eucharist and the undesignated $220 of the outreach funds was divided among 4 ministries nominated from the floor. Over $1300 was collected.
Fr. Mike G., Provincial chaplain led 2 meditations on the Holy Spirit's work in our lives, illustrated and highlighted by his own music, including A Prayer for Union which is the focus of his daily blog for all Daughters. (Sign up by clicking here and requesting to be added.) Cindy D. spoke about her writing and how writing (journaling or any other form) is a prayer and spiritual aid. The new Jr. Daughter chair, Tory Arnold talked about the need for Junior Daughters and shared a video of a retreat for Juniors in TX. Let's give that some consideration in the DRG and grow our Juniors! Is God calling you to be the JDOK Chair?

The Assembly was a time of renewal and refreshment as well as fellowship and worship with other Daughters. There was at least one representative from every diocese in the Province! Make plans for the 2015 Assembly which will be in the Corpus Christi, TX area in April, 2015.
Start saving now for Trienniel in Salt Lake City in June of 2015, too. The saying "A dollar a day for DOK" will help you set aside enough funds to get to each of these events!

Prov. 7 Assembly Registration

The Registration forms for Prov. 7 DOK Assembly 2013 (April 5-7) are now available. Please do prayerfully consider whether this is something you might want to attend. We as a Diocesan Assembly haven't, in the recent past, had much of a presence at Prov. assemblies and now is the time to change that. I'll be driving (April 4, returning April 7) and willingly taking passengers. If we get enough-we can van-pool or even get a bus!

Group rates at hotels near the church are listed on the registration. Most of them have to have your reservation before March 15 (one by the 8th!), so it's time to get those reservations made!

Below is the tentative agenda. You'll note that business is a very small part of the whole time. Most of it is worship and workshops to enrich our journey as Daughters of the King and Sisters in Christ. The theme is prayer, something we can all use more of.

Tentative Agenda
Friday – April 5, 2013
1:00 Prov. 7 Board Meeting
3:00 – 5:00 PM Registration (materials with local activities)
6:00 Dinner
7:00 Holy Eucharist, Rite I – with The Rt. Rev. Dr. Edward J. Konieczny, Bishop of the Diocese of Oklahoma
Renewal of Vows
Commemoration of the Dead

Saturday – April 6, 2013
8:00 AM Registration/ Continental Breakfast (provided)
9:00 –10:00 Business Meeting (Province VII)
10:15 - 11:45 Session I
12:00- 12:45 PM Lunch (provided)
1:00 – 2:30 Session II
2:45 – 4:45 Session III
5:15 Taize Service (healing and meditation)
6:30 Dinner (provided)

Sunday – April 7, 2013
Breakfast    On Your Own (hotel or other local options)
9:15 AM Holy Eucharist, Rite I – All Souls’ Episcopal Church

Provincial News and Assembly

The Diocese of the Rio Grande is part of Province VII of the Episcopal Church. The Daughters of the King is also organized by province. Our Provincial President is Brenda Amos. The website for Province VII is worth visiting. You will find photos of the board retreat last September, the Prov. VII newsletter, interesting information about Daughters, and a calendar of events across the Province.

Diocesan Presidents from across the Province recently gathered on a conference call to learn about plans for the Provincial Google site to help with communication, and hear about newly released guides for Presidents and Chaplains. Also the new 2012 Handbook is available from the National DOK office!

An important part of any organization is the fellowship that comes from getting together. Province VII is large-extending from NM to LA and north to the Diocese of W Missouri. Few of us will have a chance to visit all over the Province-but we CAN come together for Assembly on April 5-7 in Oklahoma City. The Theme is "Feed My Sheep" with the focus on our Rule of Prayer.  Registration will be $75 and there are special rates at nearby hotels. You can check out times and schedules in this Save the Date announcement.

The business portion of the Assembly is a very small part of the entire time. Most of the event will involve breakout sessions by various speakers (including Diocese of the Rio Grande President Cindy Davis). This is a model we hope to emulate in the diocesan assembly this year (August 2-3).

Attending Provincial Assembly is a rewarding experience, as those who have attended in the past can attest. The registration forms for the Province VII Assembly will be posted to the Provincial website in the near future. Also, if we have enough interest, we will investigate the idea of a bus or van-pool to Oklahoma. (It would probably be about $100/person to rent a full sized van.)

Daughters of the King Assemble at the Cathedral

The Cathedral of St. John was the location for the annual Diocesan Assembly of Daughters of the King on August 2-4. About 50 ladies from around the Diocese gathered for a time of fellowship, worship, business, and retreat led by Diocesan President Sandy Martin from the St. Mary and Martha Chapter, Mesilla Park. The St. Agnes Chapter at the Cathedral hosted the event with help from the Light in the Desert, Catherine of Sienna, and St. Chad’s Chapters in Albuquerque.

Blankets collected by the Shepherd’s Daughter Chapter (thanks to Evelyn Yates) for the BethanyKids Ministry in Kenya were blessed by the Very Rev. Mark Goodman during the Eucharist on Friday. Even the Jr. Daughters participated with Darcy Robinson of the St. Brigid Chapter reading the Old Testament lesson.  

A teaching by the Rev. Dan Tuton of Hope+in+the+Desert, Albuquerque about the Sevenfold Gift of the Holy Spirit and a workshop led by incoming Diocesan President Cindy Davis rounded out the Assembly. Cindy’s Saturday morning workshop was based on her novels about women in the Bible. She shared how these Biblical women learned that God’s Spirit works to heal as we listen to each other and turn to God. Cindy challenged each Daughter to be part of “an empowered cadre of prayer warriors who lead, support, and minister within and outside our congregations…who are willing to heal divisions by listening and building unity in the Diocese as we live into our vows of Prayer, Service, and Evangelism.”

The newly elected Diocesan Daughters of the King board is Cindy Davis, President; Peggy Way, 1^st Vice President; Anna Marie Dugan, 2^nd Vice President; Carol Ast-Milchen, Secretary, Brenda Restivo, Treasurer; and the Rev. Jeanne Lutz, Chaplain.