Episcopal Church Foundation Vital Practices

November 2021

Joy and Gratitude

A Pandemic Church Plant Inspires Joy
By Beth Wyndham
What does it mean to be centered in joy? Are you searching for a way to engage your church leadership in reflection on their joy and gratitude as a community? In her vlog, A Pandemic Church Plant Inspires Joy, Beth Wyndham invites us to consider where the Holy Spirit may be calling our faith communities to seek joy.
Bold, Magnificent and True
By Philip DeVaul and Max Firesheets
When Max Firesheets decided to change their name, the people of the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Cincinnati, Ohio, came together in solidarity and faithfulness. In the video Bold, Magnificent and True, Max Firesheets, in conversation with Philip DeVaul, describes their journey from uncertainty to joy.
Editor's Letter November 2021
By Charis Bhagianathan
In this issue, our authors remind us that even when we are weary, we only have to ask to receive joy and our God’s abundant, endless love – often in surprising ways.
Joy Cometh
By Nicole Mirando
Have you experienced the joy and comfort a pet or companion animal can bring to your life? In Joy Cometh, Nicole Mirando gives us a glimpse into her loving relationship with her rescue puppy, Linus, and shares how, in the end, it was he who rescued her.
The Joy and Gratitude Within
By Kathy Culmer
In The Joy and Gratitude Within, Kathy Culmer shares wisdom through words and video about the ways gifts like joy from our God may not always look like what we’re expecting, and how we often find them in unexpected places and spaces when we most need them.
Vendrá la alegría
By Nicole Mirando
Cuando mi querida amiga Sandra me pidió que escribiera este artículo para el número de este mes de Papeles de la Junta Parroquial sobre la gratitud y alegría que las mascotas traen a las vidas de las mujeres que vivimos solas, pensé Por supuesto, puedo canalizar mi Carrie Bradshaw interna.