Winter Camp at Camp Wingmann in Avon Park has a different theme every year, but according to camp executive director Joshua “J.J.” Joseph, the camp maintains the same focus: building gospel-based connections. The recent Winter Camp, which took place the weekend of Dec. 27-29, had the theme “Total Surrender” and revealed the many ways Winter…
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Regardless of politics, the topic of immigration has become one of increasing concern in both the U.S. and the state of Florida. Now, the factors surrounding this issue are having direct impact on clergy and congregations in the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida. According to the Rev. Canon Dr. Dan Smith, canon to the ordinary,…
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The Episcopal Church celebrates the Feast of the Epiphany on Jan. 6, 12 days after Christmas. That day commemorates the arrival of the wise men from the East to Bethlehem to pay homage to the newborn Christ child. It also marks the beginning of Epiphany season, a four- to nine-week period that ends on the…
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The Rev. Canon Patricia Orlando, canon priest for spiritual formation and pastoral care at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Orlando, knows about pain. Not only has she lost both of her parents in recent years, but like many of us, she has also experienced other deep losses. But it was not her grief that…
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The Rev. Stephanie Soper was ordained into the Sacred Order of the Priesthood on Nov. 24 in a service held at the Church of the Ascension, Orlando. The Rt. Rev. Dr. Justin S. Holcomb, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, presided. She was one of seven in the diocese ordained as transitional deacons on…
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A recent teaching opportunity with the Anglican Episcopal House of Studies at Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina, left the Rev. Canon Dr. Dan Smith with a favorable impression of both the seminary and the Anglican Episcopal community there. The Nov. 12 visit also confirmed a positive trend that Smith, canon to the ordinary…
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Grace, Port Orange, has received an $89,000 matching grant from the Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources, to restore its historic chapel. Tinny Ryder wrote the grant, with contributions from Bobbi and John Palmer, Kimberly Mansfield, Hal Read, Lynda Moore, Glenda Coursen and all of the church’s parishioners. “I am thankful for Tinny,”…
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The Rt. Rev. Dr. Justin S. Holcomb, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, ordained five deacons in three separate services in November, with one priest to be ordained Nov. 24 (watch for that story in our December issue). The new deacons are the Revs. Colleen Rothrock, Dan King, Wesny Dubic, Stephen Feibelman and…
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During the Requiem Eucharist for the Rt. Rev. Dr. Dabney T. Smith on Nov. 11 at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Orlando, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Justin S. Holcomb, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, pointed out that everyone in attendance, regardless of position or responsibility, was there for the same reason:…
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This fall, two deaneries hosted events designed to equip clergy and laity for mission and ministry in the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida. Organized by their respective deans, the Very Rev. Deke Miller of the Southwest Deanery, vicar of Holy Cross, Winter Haven; and the Rev. Dr. Porter Taylor, former dean of the Southeast Deanery…
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