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 December 2021
By Charis Bhagianathan
In this issue our authors open their hearts to us in profoundly personal and vulnerable expressions of what it means to claim joy this season.
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.
Here Am I
By Lauren Grubaugh Thomas
What does it look like to be present and open to our God’s calling, even when the world around us continues to be overwhelmingly turbulent? In Here Am I, Lauren Grubaugh Thomas shares a deeply personal reflection on expectant motherhood, hope and joy this Advent season.
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.
Madre para todos y madre de nadie
By Miguelina Howell
La maternidad es algo hermoso. En cierta manera es una vocación. Desde mi preadolescencia, tuve claridad sobre dos llamados en mi vida: ser sacerdote y ser madre de mis propios hijos.
Mother of All and Mother of None
By Miguelina Howell
For some, the path to motherhood is a painful and lonely journey. In Mother of All and Mother of None, Miguelina Howell opens her heart to us in her beautiful recounting of how God’s love and mercy have been steadfast through the trials and triumphs of her life.
Pensamientos de gozo
By Jaivan Mohorko
Hablemos sobre lo que significa estar lleno de gozo eterno.
Resurrecting Joy Through Sobriety
By Erin Jean Warde
The fear that sobriety will rob us of our fun is very real and more common than we might think. In Resurrecting Joy Through Sobriety, Erin Jean Warde describes her experience with sober discernment, showing how she was able to look at her own self with clarity and love and claim her joy.
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.
Thoughts on Joy
By Jaivan Mohorko
In Thoughts on Joy, Jaivan Mohorko, a 17-year-old, presents sage wisdom on what joy means to him and how a positive approach to life and the world around ensures that even if joy isn’t permanent, it always returns to us. This article is available in English and Spanish.
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.