Bishop Thomas C. Ely
was on sabbatical leave from
December 3, 2006 until April 2, 2007

Welcome Bishop Ely back to Vermont:
Teaching and Celebration events:
Saturday April 28, 2007, 2-5 PM, Christ Church, Montpelier
Sunday April 29, 2007, 3-6 PM, Zion Church, Manchester
Both will include teaching/presentation by Bishop Ely, questions and answers, Evening Prayer

Bishop Ely's sabbatical focused on the theme of world mission. He spent time in Sudan and El Salvador. Click here to read his Mountain Echo column of March 2006, on "The World Mission Vocation of the Bishop." Click here to read his November 2006 column, "My sabbatical will focus on world mission."

To read a letter to the diocese from Bishop Ely written after his visit to Sudan and Kenya, click here.
Download Bishop Ely's report on his time in the Diocese of Bor, Sudan (MS Word).

To read a letter to the diocese from Bishop Ely written after his month-long stay in El Salvador, click here.
To read a letter to the diocese from Bishop Ely in response to the Communiqué from the meeting of the Primates of the Anglican Communion in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, click here.

The Rev. Dr. Ian Douglas, Angus Dunn Professor of World Mission and Global Christianity at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, wrote a guest column for the January Mountain Echo titled, "The Bishop and the Mission of God? Or, Now why is he going to Sudan and El Salvador?" Click here to read (or download) the column (pdf).

Bishop Ely returned to work on April 2, and on April 3, he attended Clergy Day and presided at a Eucharist in the Cathedral with the traditional Holy Week renewal of ordination vows and the blessing of oils. Curtis Almquist, SSJE, offered two meditations for the clergy and preached at the Eucharist. Download his meditations and sermon:
Pruning our Lives (pdf)
Restoration of Innocence (pdf)
The Soul's Thirst for God (pdf)

Below are links to information on world mission and sites related to the bishop's sabbatical activities.

Photo Gallery
Click here to see photos on this site from Bishop Ely's January visit to the Diocese of Bor, Sudan.
Click here to see photos on this site from Bishop Ely's February stay in El Salvador.
Click here to view Bishop Ely's Picasa Web Album of photos from Sudan and El Salvador.

Members of the Bishop's Sabbatical Team:
The Rt. Rev. Thomas C. Ely
Ann Ely
Lynn Bates, Canon to the Ordinary
Ann Cooper, Standing Committee
The Rev. Dr. Lee Alison Crawford, Diocesan Council Executive Committee
The Very Rev. Kenneth Poppe, Standing Committee and Dean, Cathedral Church of St. Paul
The Rev. Canon Tanya Wallace, Diocesan Council Executive Committee

Links:

Anglican Covenant for Communion in Mission (Adopted by Anglican Consultative Council, June 2005; GC06 Resolution 126)

Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation

Episcopal Relief and Development

Fundacion Cristosal (El Salvador)

New Sudan Education Initiative

CHABHA (Children Affected by HIV/AIDS – Africa)

"Sudan's Upper Nile welcomes thousands for 100th anniversary of Bor diocese," an Episcopal News Service article, March 2006

Iglesia Episcopal Anglicana de El Salvador