On April 16, the Rev. Janet Brown, the first woman ordained in the Diocese of Vermont, will retire as priest-in-charge at Grace Church in Sheldon, a parish she has led for fourteen years. Her spouse, Jean Townsend, has breast cancer, and while hope is high as Townsend receives treatment at the University of Vermont’s Breast …
Grace Church in Sheldon and St. Luke’s in St. Albans have formed the newest constellation in the Diocese of Vermont, pledging to share clergy and collaborate on mission. The Rev. Darcey Mercier will serve as priest-in-charge for both congregations. Mercier is a 2022 graduate of Seminary of the Southwest, and was sponsored for ordination by St. Michael’s, Brattleboro. “So many people …
From November 25 to December 5, join Bishop Shannon for a diocesan-sponsored pilgrimage to the Holy Land led by the Rev. Kim Hardy of St. James, Essex Junction and the Rev. Dr. Fred Moser of Trinity, Shelburne. Hardy, Moser, and local guides Canon Iyad Qumri and Rami Qumri will lead pilgrims on visits to the Dome of …
From May 12 to 16, members of the diocese will make a pilgrimage to Alabama and Georgia to explore civil rights history and the work of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). This five-day journey will include visits to: Cost for the pilgrimage is $1,300 for double-occupancy rooms and $1,600 for single-occupancy rooms. The cost covers airfare, ground transportation, …
During the pandemic lockdown, the people of Calvary Episcopal Church in Underhill could take heart knowing their junior warden, Audie Cota, was checking in on the building regularly. Cota, who lives nearby, carried out this and other duties of junior warden, all while juggling schoolwork. “I think I was 13 at that time,” Cota says. …
Bishop Shannon MacVean-Brown arrived in Vermont just a few months before COVID lockdowns began and on the cusp of a churchwide clergy shortage. In 2021, as the diocese’s congregations began to emerge from pandemic lockdowns, she realized that they would need to adapt to the changed world they found by collaborating and innovating. “We cannot …
“Lent is a season of self-denial and reflection, penitence, and discipline,” the Rev. adwoa Wilson, the Green Mountain Online Abbey’s vicar for discipleship and formation, says. “However, author Martin L. Smith notes that ‘it is also a time of freedom, when the Spirit of God urges us to be open to the central experiences of …
“And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” Luke 2:7 On this holy night, Jesus came into the world in the most ordinary place, in the most ordinary way imaginable. Out of …
The Liturgy Commission of the Diocese of Vermont will offer a 4-session Morning Prayer leadership training course Tuesday evenings, January 10, 17, 24, and 31 from 6:30 – 8 p.m. on Zoom. This course is open to those who have been recommended by their priest or, in congregations with no priest, their senior warden. Congregations …
The Rev. adwoa Wilson, the Green Mountain Online Abbey‘s vicar for discipleship and formation, has created a diocesan Advent devotional booklet (updated version as of 11/25/22) for parishes and individuals. “In it, many voices from across the diocese will be represented as they wrestle with the hope and discomfort of Revelation,” Wilson says. Titled “Even Now, Come Lord Jesus,” …