a note from rev. sharon

Dear St. John’s,
 
    Have you ever wondered why we’re called the Episcopal Church? “Episcopal” refers to bishops, one of the three ordained ministries in the church (the others being priests and deacons).
    The glossary of terms on the denominational website (https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/) explains that “bishops serve as chief pastors of the church, exercising a ministry of oversight and supervision. Diocesan bishops hold jurisdiction in their dioceses, with particular responsibility for the doctrine, discipline and worship of the church. Bishops serve as the focus for diocesan unity and for the unity of their dioceses with the wider church. Since the bishop's ministry is a ministry of oversight, the term ‘episcopal’ (derived from the Greek episcopos, ‘overseer’) is applied to matters pertaining to bishops. An ‘episcopal’ church is a church governed by bishops, and ‘episcopal’ services are led by bishops.”
    Diocesan bishops oversee the geographic areas called dioceses in our church. St. John’s belongs to the Diocese of Newark, which encompasses the northern half of New Jersey and is led Bishop Carlye Hughes. Such bishops are required to visit every parish in the diocese at least once every three years. Bishop Hughes will visit us on March 17, where she will celebrate and preach at the 10:30 a.m. Eucharist, greet the congregation at coffee hour, and then meet with the vestry and clergy.
    To learn more about what’s happening in our diocese and the work of our bishop and the diocesan staff, I encourage you to explore the diocesan website (https://dioceseofnewark.org), read our diocesan newsletters (https://dioceseofnewark.org/e-news) and to listen to (or read) the bishop’s vlog posts (https://dioceseofnewark.org/bishops-vlog). On the website, you also can sign up to receive the every-other-week newsletters and other announcements via email.
    I hope you all will mark the date on your calendar and join me in welcoming our bishop in a few weeks!
 
Rev. Sharon