Monday, July 30, 2012

Keeping Up With Our New Bishop




Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

What a wonderful first week! I’m settling in at the Bishop’s Cottage and in the office. My YMCA membership is squared away. And I have had a great time meeting people from across the Diocese. Let’s face it. We Western Louisiana Episcopalians are nice people!

In addition to communicating with you through this email and the Alive!, I would like to offer some other opportunities for us to stay in touch:

• Friend me on Facebook.

• Follow my blog via email or RSS feed. The blog is called “Pelican Anglican,” and you can find it at http://pelicananglican.blogspot.com. Text for each week’s sermons and other writings appear there.

• Listen to my weekly sermons either by going to Pelican Anglican and following the link or going directly to http://sermon.net/bishopjake. (I record the sermon directly into the iPad from which I preach and then post it.)

• Keep your eye on our website. Bob Harwell has some exciting ideas that he will implement one step at a time. One of them is a regular series of video clips of me discussing spiritual and theological topics of interest to you.

In addition to all of this, I’m excited to announce that my book Connecting the Dots is appearing in print in the next couple of weeks. Naturally, I hope you will consider reading it (it will be available in soft cover, hard cover, and e-book through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and various book sellers).

I love to teach, so if you and your congregation would like an additional visit from me during the week, I would be happy to come, teach, and sign books. Instead of selling them, I prefer to offer each book as a premium for a donation given to your congregation for the purpose of a ministry that your congregation designates.

Perhaps we can do something similar at Diocesan Convention, only this time designating the funds for a ministry support fund whose resources I can direct to the congregations.

Let me be clear, I intend to receive none of these proceeds for myself. I want to offer sound theological teaching while also adding to the resources dedicated to ministry in our congregations.

Just as I believed, my love for you is growing day by day. I am amazed by your faithfulness and creativity in ministry. Remember how much Jesus loves you. Every day! All the time!

In Christ’s Love,









The Rt. Rev. Jacob W. Owensby, Ph.D.