First undertaken in 2007, our annual Council in Action (CIA) program seeks to live out in a small way the part of our mission that calls us to care for others in a material sense. Our 2012 theme, “Abound in Hope,” asks us to strengthen our relationships and refresh our call to ministry to “Be Jesus’ Witnesses,” the Core Purpose of this diocese. Past CIA events have collected personal supplies for hurricane victims, provided underwear to the Salvation Army for their distribution, collected schools supplies for underprivileged children, and sent Good Samaritan Community Services children to Camp Capers in 2010 and 2011. For 2012 we focus on the Rio Grande Valley and Northern Mexico with two projects.
Goal #1 Frontera Unida -
- Los Libros de Oracion Comun (Spanish Book of Common Prayer)
Click here to order a Spanish BCP through the diocese.
The diocese has joined forces with The Bible and Common Prayer Book Society of The Episcopal Church to donate 500 Books of Common Prayer (BCP) in Spanish (El Libro de Oracion Comun) to the nine Northern Mexico churches in partnership with Frontera Unida. Currently these nine churches share 50 copies of El Libro de Oracion Comun.
Council in Action will offer each of our churches the opportunity to donate three or more Los Libros de Oracion Comun, and The Bible and Common Prayer Book Society will donate an additional 225 books. “If every church in the diocese donates at least three copies, we should easily reach our goal of 500,” said the Rev. Scott Brown, rector of St. Alban’s, Harlingen.
The books are available at Amazon.com if you would like to bring your donated copies to McAllen. You may also click the link above to purchase a prayer book and complete the inscription on your bookplate; cost is $16.50 per book. The diocese will deliver these books to Frontera Unida at Council in February complete with your personalized bookplate.
- Sacristy Supplies
As part of the diocesan Council in Action, each church is asked to clean out their sacristies and bring gently used altar items, linens, candles, and clergy vestments to give to our neighbors in Northern Mexico. The clergy across the border are in need of vestments and plain, black clergy shirts and collars. “If every priest in our diocese could spare one shirt and one collar, we could clothe the Northern Mexico clericus,” said Brown.
Goal #2 Casa Bethesda Orphanage-
- Adult Briefs (Diapers) – small and medium sizes to supply the orphanage for several months
Casa Bethesda is the only facility of its kind in the Piedras Negras, Mexico, area. It is a home where indigent or abandoned persons with disabilities are cared for with love and respect. The home is run by Pastor Paulino Esquivel and his wife Gilberta.
Esquivel and his wife believe that God will provide for the home whatever it needs as long as God wants it to exist. In 1999, Pastor Paulino founded Casa Bethesda, and since that time God has provided for all their needs through free-will gifts.
One of Casa Bethesda’s greatest expenses is adult-size diapers/briefs. They use dozens each day. “This simple gift will be a blessing of encouragement to all the ‘family’ at Casa Bethesda,” said Betty Chumney, office of the diocesan Department of World Mission.
Finally, don’t be surprised if “To-Go” boxes from the youth of Trinity, Victoria, appear on delegations’ tables Thursday afternoon of Council, and remember the children who cannot attend Camp Capers without your help. For the past two years, the youth of Trinity Episcopal Church in Victoria, created “To-Go” boxes that were placed on Council business session tables Thursday afternoon. The Rev. Bur Dobbins makes a plea to the churches of the diocese to be mindful of Thursday night dinner and make a conscience effort to cut back on food and drink. Friday morning the “To-Go” savings are placed in the boxes as an offering to send children to camp who would not otherwise have the opportunity. Our dinner savings amounted to $4,500 in 2010 and $1,700 in 2011!
Click here to see all the detail of Council in Action – Local offered by our hosts, St. John’s McAllen.
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