News from the Diocese of Torit, Sudan

Dear Bishop, Christian greetings.
I hope you are fine.

I read somewhere in the Internet where you have remembered me. This is encouraging. Torit is fine and the Christians are truly returning from exile. His Grace the Archbishop visited parts of our diocese and during His pastoral visit inaugurated seven new churches which proves that we in Torit are becoming a fast growing church.

In the Internet you mentioned that perhaps the Diocese of Torit is small and can be covered at a walking distance. This is not so. Instead it is a very big diocese whose area can cover and is equivalent to the following dioceses combined: Cuebet, Ibba, Maridi, Lui, Mundri, Yei, Lainya, Kajokeji, Rokon, Rejaf and Juba Dioceses.

The walking on foot is conditional just because we do not have the diocesan car to facilitate the movements. I hope this will put a clear picture that Torit diocese unlike others dioceses which have only one language group, has 23 different tribes. Some tribes have not yet been discovered. We shall discover them as we move by.

Greetings to all. Regards, +Bernard Oringa, Episcopal Diocese of Torit.

Dear Bishop, Christian greetings. Thank you for your quick response. I am writing from Juba.

I arrived in Juba yesterday for a workshop organized by the province to the commission chairmen in the province. Thank you too for offering to visit us in the diocese. Let me know when you plan to visit us.

His Grace the Archbishop visited parts of our diocese from 30th September to 8th October this year. Because of the long distances we could not cover the bulk of the diocese. Attached is one of the pictures for your information.

Greetings to all. Regards, Bishop Bernard

The Name Says It all

Leesville, Louisiana

This is the second stop in a three city trip to Houston, Leesville (Ft. Polk), and Des Moines and each time I visit with Episcopalians very busy in ministry (there are nearly 19,000 on Active Duty) I realize we may have inadvertently described ministry as chaplaincy. In the enthusiasm to catch a needed emphasis after September 11th we referred to our Office solely as, "Chaplaincies." At the time it was helpful but it would be inaccurate to continue that reference as recently evidenced by this visit to Fort Polk. Here, some of Episcopalians in uniform have never met an Episcopal chaplain! That's a sad fact but true yet it has always been our charge to make sure everyone is cared for and invited into vital ministry.

Chaplains remain our significant component but like a diocese we don't describe the full measure of what we do by the actions of the priestly population among us.

That's where faith communities like Polk Memorial Mission come in. This sturdy congregation like so many others throughout the world take in the pilgrim military individual and families giving them support and in like measure they give a robust return. I filled a sabbatical with the study of such wonderful stories. Often a congregation is maintained on the installation by stalwart lay people. That's true at Forts Hood, Leavenworth, Sill, and too many more to mention.

In the future we will refer to our episcopal work as, "Federal Ministries (Chaplaincies)." It's a better embrace of the work God has given us to do. +gep