NEWS & STORIES

BISHOP RUSSELL REFLECTS ON ROMANS 13:11-15:6, for the seventh week's readings for the Good Book Club, February 18-23. "'Accept one another, be of one mind.' Here's an exercise you might want to try. Go back through Chapters 12-15 and see if you can make a list of some of the concrete issues that Paul is addressing with the Roman Church. Some of the [issues] are internal and some are external, and as you make that [list], imagine that Paul might write a letter to your church.

BISHOP RUSSELL REFLECTS ON ROMANS 12:1-13:10, for the sixth week's readings for the Good Book Club, February 11-16. "I've often used Chapter 12 in retreat settings with folks and I would make a copy and ask people to simply meditate and maybe circle which of these verses, these imperatives, might we put more into practice in our own daily lives?...and I quoted John Wesley that 'there is no such thing as a solitary Christian.' I wonder what you think about that. Do you think

BISHOP RUSSELL REFLECTS ON ROMANS 10:5-11:36, for the fifth week's readings for the Good Book Club, February 4 through February 9. "Think about a time in your own life - a season of the dark night of the soul - when your lament was very, very, deep. How did you make your way through that valley? How did you resolve the questions that seem to outnumber the answers? How were you able to reconcile that and come to a place of new life?" To view each of Bishop Russell's reflection

BISHOP RUSSELL REFLECTS ON ROMANS 8:9-10:4, for the fourth week's readings for the Good Book Club, January 28-February 2. "For me, I rest in the hope that nothing, not even my own lack of faith can separate me from God's love for me and for you and for the entire world. That it is God's faith and belief in us that raised Jesus from the dead and it is God's faith that has a hold of me eternally and absolutely. I ask you this question, on what does your faith rest? What piece o

BISHOP RUSSELL REFLECTS ON ROMANS 6-8:8, for the third week's readings for the Good Book Club, January 21-26. "Heaven is right here, right now and you are a citizen of heaven. What does that mean in your life? How might we live if we were truly grasped by this power that we are meant to be those that are brought out of death into a new life, and to give our life - all of it, as Paul says - as an instrument of righteousness and goodness?" To view each of Bishop Russell's refle

BISHOP RUSSELL REFLECTS ON ROMANS 3:9-5:21, for the second week's readings for the Good Book Club, January 14-19. "Who is a concrete example of someone whose faithfulness has been important to you in your life? Who was able to trust God that...was a lifeline for you in the midst of your life? How was their faith something that was important for you and what does that story have to tell others?" To view each of Bishop Russell's reflections for the Good Book Club, visit www.dio

BISHOP RUSSELL REFLECTS ON ROMANS 1-3:8, for the first week's readings for The Good Book Club, January 7 - 12. "As you enter into this time, you may be thinking about what is your own definition of faith? When we say "we believe," what does that mean to you? When in your life did you come to the end of your rope and need a lifeline from someone else?" To view each of Bishop Russell's reflections for The Good Book Club, visit www.diocgc.org/good-book-club. #News #bishop #goodb

"Epiphany" comes from the Greek word Epiphania, which means "to show, make known, or reveal." Indeed, making known our faith in the world is a vital aspect of the Christian life. What we do in church on Sunday is meant to inspire and enkindle what we do in the world between Sundays. One place we spend much of our life is in our homes. There is an ancient custom practiced at the outset of Epiphany to bless chalk and mark/bless our homes. Rooted in the Old Testament, marking t