NEWS & STORIES

In March of this year, St. Andrew’s, Panama City welcomed a new ministry into their education building. The LGBTQ Center of Bay County (The Center) or more lovingly called “Room 6” operates the only youth program of its kind in the Panhandle of Florida, and St. Andrew's was more than honored to provide the space needed. The Center has created a “safe place” where diversity is celebrated, and all people are respected, valued and affirmed, inclusive of their sexual orientatio

The 2018 Diocesan Acolyte Festival will be Saturday, September 15, 2018 at Christ Church Cathedral from 8:30 am to 3 pm. HERE ARE SOME FAQS: What is the Diocesan Acolyte Festival? This event is a day all about honoring the ministry of acolytes. The day will include workshops on different aspects of being an acolyte, Acolyte Olympics, catered lunch, and a Festival Eucharist with procession of participants. Who should attend? Youth acolytes should come with their adult leaders,

It was a red, white and blue supper club at St. James Eufaula, on Saturday, June 16. An emotional flag retirement ceremony was held where many parish members remembered relatives and friends who were veterans. Everyone then enjoyed an All-American dinner of hamburgers and hotdogs with blueberry cobbler and apple pie a la mode for desert. Following dinner the group sang patriotic songs like "America the Beautiful," "This Land is My Land," "God Bless America" and many more. Tha

The residents of The Twin Cities Pavillion, an assisted living facility in Niceville, received an unexpected and very pleasant surprise on Sunday, July 1. The children and youth of nearby St. Jude’s Episcopal Church, accompanied by sponsors and parents, arrived at The Pavillion loaded with gifts and surprises for every resident – all wrapped in Christmas paper. It was a special Christmas in July event as the young people of St. Jude’s distributed gifts, spent time with reside

On Saturday, June 23, 2018, the Commission on Racial Justice & Reconciliation met at the diocesan School of Ministry, located at St. Agatha’s in DeFuniak Spring, Florida. One of its key matters to address was to continue collaborative discussions toward formally adopting its mission statement to guide the Commission’s actions. The mission statement reads as follows: “As members of the Jesus Movement, our mission is to dismantle individual and institutional racism by sharing r

National Council chairman of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew and Christ Church Chapter member, Dick Hooper, met with Bishop Russell on June 14 in response to a letter from our presiding bishop, Michael Curry. Bishop Curry asked our bishop to join the recreated Bishop’s Advisory Council of the Brotherhood to strengthen their ministry of prayer, study and service to men and youth “in the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement.” Bishop Russell was asked to be the council member w

It has been six months that since arriving in Panama City Beach and it has been wonderful getting to know the parish communities of Grace and St. Thomas. After taking some time getting to know the parishes, St. Thomas and Grace vestries and Shared Ministry Team had a retreat at the end of April. This retreat helped build relationships, and offer direction in what our next steps are in shared ministry. The shared ministry between Grace and St. Thomas is an effort to disc

Josh Hicks, center, leads the singing at Beer & Hymns in Dothan, Alabama. Beer & Hymns is a monthly, inter-denominational event at McLeod’s Publick House in Dothan. The next event start at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, July 11. There was a time, not that long ago, when church attendance was almost a given for the entire country -- probably more so in the South. However, there are a large number of people for whom church is not something they think about when wondering what to do on a

Deacons are an ancient, scripturally founded order in the church. Deacons are not secondary, dependent, or incomplete. Working directly under the bishop’s authority, the deacon informs and empowers the ministry of the people, intentionally and beyond the “walls” of the gathered church. The sacred order of deacons is a ministry that inspires the church to engage in the diakonia of all believers – to be a servant church. Deacons are living reminders of the diaconal, or servant

Discernment is an ongoing feature of our Christian journey. As a people of faith and action, we are all called by God to a life of ministry. The “Catechism” in our Book of Common Prayer makes clear that we are all ministers: “The ministers of the Church are lay persons, bishops, priests, and deacons.” To assist individuals who are beginning a period of active discernment, as well as those moving through the process of discerning, the diocesan Commission on Ministry has deve