Episcopal Church Women Annual Meeting and Retreat

Many of you know that I was president of the Episcopal Church Women at All Saints’ Episcopal Church back a few years ago.  The last year of my tenure, our church hosted the Annual Meeting of the Diocese of Texas Episcopal Church Women.  The meeting was well received, and everyone had a great time.  It was a really tough job, and I was glad to take a break and relax once it was done.

Apparently people sat up and took notice of the job I did as Annual Meeting Chairperson, because this past spring I got a call from the president of the Diocesan ECW, Anne Hart, asking me to be a Communication Chair for the Diocesan ECW Board of Directors.  My job is to manage communication to the Diocese of Texas newspaper, the Episcopalian, and work on the ECW website.  I had to think long and hard, but in the end I decided that my skills are very well suited to the job.  The officers of the Diocesan ECW are elected and installed at the Diocese of Texas Episcopal Church Women Annual Meeting and Retreat.

I asked some of my friends from church to join me at the retreat so that I would have moral support, and the pleasure of their company.  Misty, Lee, and Lindsay agreed to attend with me.  They enthusiastically voted for me on Friday night during the business meeting, and then they stood with me during the installation on Saturday morning.

We went to three great workshops together.  We attended a fun workshop called, “How can I keep from singing?” with Brother Gallagher of Holy Cross Monastery.  We sang until we were horse, especially Lindsay!  We also met a most flirtatious monk, Brother Bernard.  He wore a habit that looked like jedi clothing.  We were pretty sad we did not get a picture!  He joked and laughed with us the entire time we were together.

We also attended Elizabeth Gibson’s workshop on labyrinths.  Elizabeth gave a wonderful presentation, and I think all of us were moved by our labyrinth walk.  I could not stop thinking about how lucky we are to have such a fantastic, creative person sharing her ministry with All Saints’!

The retreat was held at Camp Allen.  The facility is superb, the food was good, the setting was magnificent. The weather was cool, but beautiful.  Misty, Lindsay, Lee, and I took a couple of great walks through a small part of the grounds. We could not have asked for a better weekend!