Nearly 10,000 hits in first day to IamEpiscopalian.org

[February 26, 2009] – In less than 24 hours, www.IamEpiscopalian.org – a website where people to share their stories - experienced nearly 10,000 hits.

“The great response to www.IamEpiscopalian.org shows that people want to share stories of how they have connected to our Church, and others want to hear them,” commented Anne Rudig, director of communication. “Lent is the obvious time to examine one's spiritual life and reconnect.”

IamEpiscopalian.org, which debuted Ash Wednesday, February 25, features dozens of video vignettes from people – representing the vast array of faces from throughout the country – to share the stories of what excites them about being an Episcopalian

“The traffic to IamEpiscopalian.org has been tremendous,” noted Mike Collins, director of digital communication. “It continued to climb throughout the day – so much so that now we are moving the site to a different server to accommodate the heavy load. Please bear with us as we continue to improve the user experience.”

Episcopalians are invited to submit a video to IamEpiscopalian.org, detailing their own faith story, and what excites them about being an Episcopalian. Video vignettes should be less than 90 seconds. To submit a video, follow the “upload” instructions on the right of IamEpiscopalian.org.

Collins added, “We look forward to expanding IamEpiscopalian.org as more videos are added throughout the Lenten season.”

"We also invite comments about IamEpiscopalian.org," Rudig said. "Tell us what you think."

Comments can be submitted to newsline@episcopalchurch.org.

IamEpiscopalian.org was developed by the Communication Office of The Episcopal Church.

"Did You Know?" YouTube Video

At Clericus this Monday, Bishop Wolf showed the following Youtube video about the ways in which the world is shifting, and asked all to think about what this could mean for the Episcopal Church.





The above video was made in 2006. The video below is an updated version made in 2008 by the same people. This video was shown in the Communications workshops at our Diocesan Convocation this year. Notice the colossal change in numbers over only 2 years!

A New Rector for St Peter's-By-the-Sea

On Tuesday January 27th, St Peter’s-By-the-Sea instituted The Rev. Casey Shobe, as Rector. The service was well attended; Casey’s family and friends, the Clergy of our diocese, and the congregants of St Peter’s packed the nave full of hope and excitement for the future of this new ministry. Casey was presented as a vibrant young answer to the prayers of that parish, and what was a rather large service felt as friendly and intimate as the candlelight reception which followed.

Casey Shobe was born in Virginia but was raised in central Texas, where his family still lives. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin in 2000, he hiked over 1000 miles of the Appalachian Trail before returning to Texas to attend the University of Texas School of Law. A one year stint in law school ended when he recognized God’s call for him to pursue Holy Orders, followed by a year of discernment and three years at Virginia Theological Seminary. There he deepened his love for the church–liturgy, history, Bible, theology–and was also blessed to meet his wife, Melody, who was also a student pursuing Holy Orders from the Diocese of Virginia. They married after their second year in seminary, and following graduation in 2006 returned to Texas, where they have been serving in separate parishes since July of that year.

Casey has served as Priest Associate at Christ Church Cathedral in Houston, Texas, with ministry areas ranging from growing the 20/30s population, to directing the Cathedral’s communication department. At the Cathedral, a parish of over 3,000 members, Casey has had opportunities to learn about developing programs, supporting and empowering volunteers, managing staff, as well as preaching, teaching and presiding regularly. Melody has served as Assistant Rector at St. Thomas the Apostle in Nassau Bay, a suburb of Houston, and has been called to serve at Christ Church in Lincoln, Rhode Island, as Priest Associate.

Casey and Melody share a love of the outdoors, claiming cycling, hiking and gardening as favorite pastimes. In addition, Casey is an avid golfer and Melody has a growing list of fabric related hobbies: quilting, stitching and knitting. They love to travel, having made pilgrimages to Ireland, Ethiopia and Israel, and are actively seeking their next destination. They have a small dog named Susie.