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. 

Daughters in Action

St. Matthew's women in preparation to form a chapter of the Daughters of the King, in conjunction with St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Los Lunas, hosted a "Community Baby Shower" at St. Matthew's on November 8 from 2 to 4pm for the Children’s Advocacy Center in Valencia County. It was a fun time and there were many donations which came from the St. Matthew's folks and from others in the community. We filled a truck with donations from laundry supplies and diapers to clothing, toothbrushes and toothpaste to toys and books. Many thanks to all who helped in making this a success!

The Children's Advocacy Center in Valencia County is the first of its kind in the country. It is set up to have one central location in which various agencies in the county and state are located where they can provide advocacy for children in crisis due to abuse. Director Alexandria Taylor, who is also director of Valencia Shelter Services voiced a need for donations for everyday needs of the children.

The project is ongoing and we will continue to help in any way we can. The ladies from the study group will begin by sorting donated clothing by size and gender to stock the clothing bank for the center. If you are interested in learning more about this project, contact the ladies at St. Matthew’s.

What Happened At Assembly

 Assembly 2014 at Holy Faith in Santa Fe was attended by 50 women from around the Diocese. The Frederick B. Howden Chapter did a lovely job hosting the event. The theme for Assembly this year was, “We are One in the Spirit…and we Serve”. A few highlights from Assembly:

Welcome bags at registration were
filled with lots of goodies

Assembly Business

After Morning Prayer on Saturday, the business meeting was held. President's report is here. The exciting news is that we have 2 new chapters (Redeeming Grace in Carlsbad, and Santiago in Taos), plus a chapter in discernment at St. Matthew’s, Los Lunas. New Jr. Daughters have been added and other chapters are growing as well. The finance report was shared by Brenda Restivo, Treasurer. Although Assembly ended up being a bit over budget, the bottom line remains solid.
There were 7 ministries nominated for the grants this year at Assembly. The Layette Ministry of the Frederick B. Howden Chapter at Holy Faith, and the Casa de Amore Para Ninos Ministry, nominated by the Shepherd’s Daughters Chapter at Good Shepherd were awarded $642.50 each. The Diocesan Borderlands Ministry was also supported by $470 from the sale of baskets, and a backseat full of donations was sent to Compassionate Response.
Remember dues ($40) are to be gathered and sent to National by September 1! Chapter reports received can be viewed on the Chapter page of the blog.

Diocesan Assembly next year will be hosted by Shepherd’s Daughters in Silver City on August 7-8, 2015 with the theme, “We are One in the Spirit…and we Share”. I am considering having a retreat for all presidents on Friday before the Assembly opens and hope to have some of our Junior Daughters in attendance. We will have elections for officers, so please be in prayer for those who will be raised up to serve as our officers for the next three years. If God is nudging you, let me know!

Assembly Worship

Candles lighted in remembrance of
Daughters gone before

On Saturday morning, we gathered at Holy Faith Church for Morning Prayer and a moving sermon about Mary and Martha of Bethany by Diocesan Chaplain Jeanne Lutz. Before lunch, we had corporate communion, with another good sermon about bread and leaven. At the Eucharist, we remembered the 7 Daughters who have gone home to the Lord this past year. Jeanne’s sermons can be viewed on the Women's Ministry YouTube Channel and/or read or printed.

Our Assembly Speaker

The Assembly opened with a lovely dinner at the Sage Inn in Santa Fe, followed by the first talk given by our speaker, Marilyn Lawson, the Prov. 7 Daughters of the King Service Chair. She shared how her childhood experiences as her mother’s ‘apprentice’ in service helped her learn how important it is to serve one another. She noted, “We as Daughters of The King are to imitate that servant’s attitude in our own lives” and gave us 1 Peter 1:13-25 to meditate on.


Marilyn’s talks continued after the business meeting. She reminded us that “Daughters of the King will encounter Christ in those they serve. Those served will encounter Christ in YOU.” She said, “I encourage each of you to live our Rule of Service.” She noted that LOVE should be our primary reason for service and that we serve best when we explore areas where we are most connected. Marilyn stressed the importance of mentoring girls through Jr. Daughters. Juniors do not have to be Episcopalian and this can be a wonderful outreach to girls in your community, some of whom may have had greater life experiences than we have ourselves. It is important to help them find grounding and faith in a turbulent world. She also suggested looking at ministry to special populations (prison, mental illness, disability, bereavement, elderly, young adult, etc.). 

Marilyn Lawson with VP Peggy Way,
Treasurer Brenda Restivo and Barbara Caldwell

Marilyn shared many ideas for service from her own diocese (TX) and members present shared some service projects they are involved in including pillowcase dresses for Africa, community suppers in Ruidoso, an after school program in Silver City, and support of a medical mission to Honduras by the Carlsbad chapter.

Marilyn’s notes can be downloaded. I hope you will take time to at least skim through her notes. There are some really good ideas, including an exercise you could do as a chapter.
Videos of Marilyn's talks are on the Women's Ministry YouTube channel. (The Friday evening did not record well, so you'll have to read her story by downloading the notes.)

What’s Coming

Initial information about Triennial 2015 on June 19-23 in UT is here. Watch the Royal Cross for complete details. The registration will be $400 for the 4 days of Triennial and rooms are estimated to be about $100/night! Air travel might be around $4-500, and we are considering doing a van-pool if we can get enough interest. As an added bonus, the Prov. 7 Annual Assembly will be held in conjunction with Triennial so you only have to travel once and get 2 events. Each chapter can send a person as delegate! Consider getting someone from your chapter to attend if you cannot go yourself.

Don't Miss Assembly 2014: We are One in the Spirit...and we Serve

August 1-2: Diocesan Daughters of the King Assembly 2014 at Holy Faith, Santa Fe

The Frederick B. Howden Chapter is hard at work with plans to make this a fun and memorable Assembly. Most of us are staying at the Sage Inn, not far from the Plaza and church (the block room price of $104/night has expired, but some are still getting the hotel to give them that price). Share a room with a friend to split the cost. 
To make it easier on those traveling, we will gather on Friday evening (starting at 5PM) at the Sage Inn Sunrise Room for registration, light supper provided by the Chapter, and our first talk.
Saturday events, like the business meeting, Eucharist, and talks, will be at Holy Faith. Our host chapter is planning many lovely things for the Assembly in the way of welcome and meals.
After the Assembly there is the opportunity for a FREE private tour of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. The hoped for visit to the Santa Fe Opera to see Carmen didn't work out cuz we didn't get enough interest in time to get the inexpensive seats. Maybe you just want to do some sight-seeing in the City Different and have dinner at La Fonda or one of the other delightful places in Santa Fe.
Registration forms for Assembly now available. The registration cost this year remains the same as last year ($40).
The theme is living our vow of Service. We'll hear from the Prov. 7 Service Chair, Marilyn Lawson.

Province 7 Board meets

Nineteen Diocesan Presidents from around Province 7 gathered at the Montserrat Retreat Center in Dallas, TX in September for a time of fellowship, sharing, and learning. By the end, we had gained new friends and shared in worship and laughter. Each of us has a new prayer partner-a fellow diocesan president-with whom to share prayer needs and joys.
New Diocesan Presidents, like Cindy Davis of the Diocese of the Rio Grande, were warmly welcomed by returning presidents and by Brenda Amos, Province 7 President. Her vision is to see Daughters across the Province grow closer to Jesus and to one another in fellowship and to grow the Daughters of the King in our parishes, dioceses, and across the Province. 

Communication is a big part of that effort: Communicating who we are as Daughters of the King to others and communicating between and amongst ourselves! In the Diocese of the Rio Grande, blogs, newsletters, email, face-to-face, and other forms of communication will be used to help existing chapters grow stronger and encourage new chapters to form. Like the sun rising at Montserrat over Lake Dallas, we CAN be stronger and faithful to our vows!
One thing we are all aware of is the need to interest younger women and girls in the DOK. To that end, I'm challenging each Daughter to invite a younger woman to one of your meetings. The idea of a 'Bishop's Chapter' of Jr. Daughters that would be Diocesan wide is also being considered because some parishes really don't have enough girls to form individual chapters.
At the Prov. 7 Meeting we were encouraged to have each Daughter think about 3 questions: “What did you expect when you joined the DOK?” and “Where are you now?” and “Where are we going?” Post some of your answers here in the comments sections-one way to keep in touch!
During the meeting both the Prayer Chair and the Service Chair suggested that we consider looking at the way we do 'prayer lists' and 'service'. In fact, we were urged to think outside the box and maybe even rename these activities. Denise is calling the Provincial prayer list a "Symphony of Prayer" (lovely, don't you think) and Marilyn says we need to consider service as working with "Holy Urgency" (under the guidance of the Holy Spirit)! Remember there is a Prayer page on this blog. Remember, this is only as good as the prayers you send in. If you feel called to be the Diocesan Prayer Chair-contact for prayer requests and worship assistant at DOK gatherings, let Cindy know.
A "Service or Holy Urgency Page" can be added if there is interest in sharing service ideas around the Diocese-and I think we should be sharing.

All chapter presidents have received a letter with lots of other fun info from the Prov. 7 meeting. Ask them to share!