Upcoming:
Ash Wednesday
The Feast of Saints
Perpetua and Felicity
The Feast of Saint
Gregory the Great
The Feast of Saint
Vincent de Paul
The Feast of Saint
Patrick of Ireland
The Feast of Saint
Cyril of Jerusalem
The Feast of Saint
Joseph
The Feast of Saint
Cuthbert
The Annunciation of
Our Lord
3/05 -
3/07 -
3/12 -
3/15 -
3/17 -
3/18 -
3/19 -
3/20 -
3/25 -
E-NEWSLETTER
The Diocese of Springfield
March 2025 - The Week of VIII Epiphany
01
Pre-Lenten Clergy Retreat 2025
The Fight Between Carnival and Lent, Pieter Bruegel, Public Domain
The Clergy of our Diocese gathered for their annual
Pe-Lenten Clergy Retreat at King’s House at the
National Shrine of Our Lady of Snows in Bellville.
Beginning with Mass at the beautiful Shrine church
on The Feast of St. Matthias (February 24th), the
two-day, two-night retreat focused on fellowship,
worship, renewal, reconciliation, and education. Dr.
Ryan Burge offered three retreat addresses centered
on statistical trends that are driving evangelical
priorities of the church today. Dr. Burge is an
American political scientist, statistician, and for 17
years until Summer 2024, an American Baptist
pastor. An Associate professor at Eastern Illinois
University, he is best known for his work on
religion in the United States. 60 Minutes has termed
him one of the “leading data analysts on religion
Photos by Fr. Parker Asplin
and politics” within the United States. Also joining
our Diocesan clergy was Fr. Peter Speropulos, who
was invited by Bishop Burgess to serve as retreat
Confessor. Fr. Speropulos has served as associate
rector of The Church of St. Michael & St. George in
St. Louis since August 2017. The retreat was well
attended and appreciated by those making the time
and effort to attend. To the benefit of all, quite a
few retired clergy participated, adding a depth of
vocational grounding. Bishop Burgess extends his
deep-seated appreciation toward all our parishes
and missions for their faithful and sacrificial
stewardship which invites such offerings, intended
for the wellness of our clergy and their growth in
the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ.
02
MAR 2025
The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.
He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a
while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat
(Mark 6:30-34).
Photos by Fr. Parker Asplin
Photos by Fr. Parker Asplin
MAR 2025
03
Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe has released a statement
regarding
his
vision
of
church
realignment.
His
announcement was released on February 20th, 2025 and
discusses his plans for restructuring both the finances
and staffing of the church at large. "It’s time to reorient
our
churchwide
resources—budgets
and
staff—to
support dioceses and congregations on the ground where
ministry happens. To build on what dioceses and
diocesan partnerships already do better than the
churchwide structure and use churchwide resources to
strengthen those ministries." To read more about Bishop
Rowe's vision for realignment, click here.
Presiding Bishop Announcement
The saints at St. Michael’s (111
O’Fallon Troy Road, O’Fallon IL
62269) in O’Fallon will be hosting
their
Twenty-Fifth
Building
Anniversary Celebration on Sunday,
March 30th at 10:00 AM with Holy
Eucharist officiated by The Rt. Rev.
Bishop Brian K. Burgess. All in
attendance are invited to join in a
fellowship
meal
immediately
following the service. For those
St. Michael’s 25th Building Celebration
interested in joining the service and meal, RSVPs are expected by Sunday, the 23rd
of March.
The Cathedral Church of St. Paul and the Order of Christ the Savior are co-hosting
the Third Annual Saint Benedict Conference on May 28th and 29th. This special
event is the only continuing education event on Anglican Deliverance Ministry in
The Episcopal Church and will feature presentations such as Perspectives on
Deliverance and Spiritual Warfare from the East and West to The Anglican Rite of
Exorcism: Ancient Liturgy for Today’s World. After the conference, three postulants
will be received as Novice Dominican Friars in a special Novitiate Mass. Those in
attendance will have the opportunity to spend in spiritual direction and confession,
the daily office and Holy Eucharist, and lunch will be provided. For more
information, contact education@anglicanocs.org or visit www.anglicanocs.org.
MAR 2025
04
3rd Annual Saint Benedict Conference
The Diocese of Springfield Episcopal Church Women will host a
Lenten Retreat from March 21st through the 23rd at Toddhall
Retreat and Conference Center in Columbia, IL. The keynote
speaker will be The Rev. Dr. Gayle Fisher-Stewart, who served as
Triennial Chaplain during the General Convention in Louisville,
ECW Lenten Retreat
KY. The theme of this year's retreat is Women Growing in Spirit, and Truth. Those
planning to attend are encouraged to bring a poem, story, song, or skit to share on
Friday evening. For further information or questions, contact retreat co-chairs Carol
McCrary at troub71@yahoo.com or Joyce C. Wright at jcwright117@gmail.com.
MAR 2025
05
UTO Spring Ingathering
Letters will be sent out to all churches and
United Thank Offering Coordinators the
week of March 10th for the UTO Spring
Ingathering. All blessings during the Lenten
Season!
Project Resource 2025
The Project Resource Stewardship Conference, hosted by The College for Bishops,
will take place again this spring from March 9th through April 6th. Project
Resource equips parish stewardship teams with strategic training and flexible
resources to design and execute annual stewardship campaigns which can be
replicated and adapted in future years. Project Resource is dedicated to fostering
cultural and systemic advancements around stewardship as a ministry in the
Episcopal Church. For further details and registration, please visit https://project-
resource.org/spring2025.
MAR 2025
06
Please include those in our Diocese who are
pursuing Holy Orders in your prayers:
Danny Shuler, Postulant, St. Thomas, Salem
Andrew Mead, Postulant, Trinity, Lincoln
Zach Buscher, Postulant, Trinity, Lincoln
Jeff Wenzel, Postulant, The Cathedral Church
of St. Paul the Apostle, Springfield
Len
Harris,
Postulant,
Church
of
the
Redeemer, Cairo
To find more information on Province V
news and programs from The Episcopal News
Service, (click here) and find the “News &
Other Publications” header.
You can visit our website to check out the
most up-to-date prayer calendar (click here)
or our diocesan calendar (click here) with
feasts and other events listed for around the
Diocese.
Saints Perpetua and Felicity, Public Domain