News & Announcements
THRIVE Leaders Seek a Balance of Innovation and Tradition
The impetus for THRIVE, the task force appointed by Bishop Shannon last summer, was an impending diocesan financial crisis. But in the last few months, the group of lay and clergy leaders has dug deeper than the immediate problem, strategizing about ways that the diocese can help congregations become more vital and connected in their …
Update from the Diocesan Covid Response Team
On January 6, the Covid Response Team sent the following letter to clergy and congregational leaders. Greetings to you and your congregations in this New Year and new season of our life together. Given the rapid rise in COVID-19 case counts and hospitalizations, as well as COVID-19 positivity rates across Vermont, the Covid Response Team …
Telling People What We’re About: A New Statement of Belief, Mission, Vision and Values
In 2021, as the leaders of the Diocese of Vermont began discerning the future of its ministry and its possibilities for collaboration with other dioceses, Bishop Shannon realized that the diocese needed a statement of its belief, mission, vision and values to guide its work. “When we discern with other dioceses, we need to enter …
Diocesan Book Study: “The Church Cracked Open”
On Thursdays from January 6 to February 17 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. on Zoom, Bishop Shannon will lead a diocesan book study of The Church Cracked Open: Disruption, Decline, and New Hope for Beloved Community by the Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers. Spellers is the presiding bishop’s canon for evangelism and reconciliation and was the …
Praise and the Path: Bishop Shannon’s Christmas Message
“The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.” Luke 2:20 During this Christmas season, when we praise God for the child in the manger, may we find strength to return to our own challenging and ever-unpredictable path together. It is an honor to …
Clarification of requirements and guidance from the Covid Response Team in the midst of rising case rates, hospitalizations, and deaths in Vermont
The following is a summary of requirements and guidance contained in the Team’s letter of Nov. 30, 2021: Full Vaccination (including boosters) is: Required for lectors, preachers, choir members, altar assistants/servers, ushers, and DHOs (Designated Health Officers) Strongly recommended (expected) for all who enter the church building. Continuous Masking (fitted over nose and mouth) and …
An Update from the Diocesan Covid Response Team
In light of Vermont’s current elevated Covid case numbers and positivity rates, and predictions for the coming months, the Covid Response Team offers the following updated guidance for diocesan congregations: About Vaccination: It is now our expectation that everyone attending church in-person indoors, for whom a vaccine is available and possible, will be fully vaccinated …
“Constant Change is a Part of Our Tradition”: A Diocesan Convention Wrap-Up
If participants in the Diocese of Vermont’s 2021 convention did not know the diocese was entering a period of turbulent change before the online sessions last Thursday and Saturday, they certainly knew it afterwards. The convention—conducted over Zoom—was the first since Bishop Shannon MacVean-Brown announced that a recent financial analysis indicated that the diocese would …
Diocesan Unit Trust Stakeholders Meeting October 26 at 7 p.m. via Zoom
The Trustees of the Diocese will host a Zoom conference for stakeholders and potential stakeholders in our Diocesan Unit Trust on October 26 from 7 to 8 p.m. Agenda topics will include fund oversight and management, investment philosophy and recent investment performance; and there will be time for questions. To receive a link to join the Zoom meeting, please …
THRIVE Begins Work
When Bishop Shannon announced in July that the diocese faces a financial cliff, she appointed a task force of clergy and lay leaders to consider “how new models of ministry and new collaborative relationships might offer our diocese ways to discern our future.” The group, which named itself THRIVE (Taskforce for Hope, Revitalization, Innovation, Vision, …
A Message from the Diocesan Covid Response Team
Dear friends in Christ in the Episcopal churches in Vermont: As the COVID-19 case counts surge due to the delta variant, we write to you at this critical time to remind each of us of the important need to continue our best health and safety practices. We are fortunate in Vermont to have the highest …
Vermont’s First Black Sheriff to be Honored on October 3: Sheriff Stephen Bates, member of St. Paul’s, Vergennes
On October 3 at 11 a.m., Vermont’s first known elected Black sheriff and chief of police, Sheriff Stephen Bates, will be honored with the unveiling and dedication of an historic marker. Bates, a member of St. Paul’s, Vergennes, was first elected sheriff and chief of police in Vergennes in 1879, serving the city in those roles for …