Community Lifeline in rural Mason County, WA  was a low-barrier, part-time, 6 month,  Cold Weather Shelter for individual adults and a Community Meals Program. During the pandemic, instead of shutting down, it expanded to a year-round, 24/7, access point to Coordinated Entry of services and manages the Homeless Management Information System data base emergency shelter to people in need. Now, all guests receive an intake, vulnerability and resource assessment, interface with case management, work with case management to create a person- centered plan for housing and resources, and receive a warm hand off or referral to community resources including health, mental health, addiction and treatment, employment, education, and housing. 

Deacon Barbra Weza is the Executive Director & Homeless Advocate for the Diocese of Olympia, WA. Join us to hear from Barbra about what it took to make this happen.

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Deacon Barb serves at St. Christopher’s Community Church on Steamboat Island  just outside of Olympia.  She has served with feeding and homeless ministries since 2004. At St. Christophers, she supports the homeless, food bank, food garden, and outreach ministries which supports Thurston County residents. As a member of the Advisory Board of Chaplains on the Harbor in Grays Harbor County, WA, she helps to provide 2 shelters, 2 feeding programs, and a social enterprise farm which supports farmers in recovery.  Barbra also serves on local and state committees addressing housing and mental health needs, social justice committees, the Opioid Overdose Consortium, and the Coordinated Entry Advisory board in Mason County. 

Deacon Barb has a background in early childhood education and development, social services, and nonprofit organizations  which has enabled her to serve people of all ages and stages.  She has attended Wenatchee Valley College, The Evergreen State College, Central Washington University, and the University of Washington. A graduate from Education for Ministry (EfM) through Sewanee University of the South and the Iona School of Theology in the Diocese of Olympia, Barb was ordained on October 27, 2018.

Deacon Barbra Weza and her husband Gary live in Shelton, WA , 25 miles west of the capital city of Olympia, WA where they have lived  and been active members of the community for 22 years after living all over the Pacific Northwest, North Carolina, and Mississippi following Gary’s career in the timber industry.   They have three adult children, 2 sons, 1 daughter, and a daughter in law who live in Olympia, Liberty Lake, WA, and Chicago, Illinois.   

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Click on the REGISTATION BUTTON and complete the form to receive web conference instructions.

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Deacons Talking on the Road to Emmaus is a web-based way for deacons to walk with each other and share their stories in hope of inspiring, supporting and renewing diaconal ministries. It is inspired by the story of Cleopas and another disciple who, after recounting all that they had experienced while walking on the road to Emmaus with a stranger, recognized Jesus in their midst (Luke 24:13-32). Jesus' presence led them to release their fear and grief, to return to Jerusalem to share their experience of the resurrected Christ with the gathered community, and to renew their ministry with confidence.

Now sponsored by Pathways for Baptismal Living at Bexley Seabury Seminary and the Association for Episcopal Deacons, these free, live, interactive web conferences occur monthly on the second Tuesday at 8:30 pm ET and feature deacons sharing stories from their ministries, exploring case studies, offering peer wisdom and feedback, and exchanging mutual support. The Reverend Connie Campbell-Pearson,  Deacon & Accompanist at St. James Episcopal church, Bozman and The Venerable Roxanne Klingensmith, Archdeacon for the Diocese of Montana, join Dr. Julie Lytle, Bexley Seabury Seminary's DIrector of Distributive and Lifelong Learning, in ihosting the webinar and in dentifying deacons to share their stories.  We hope you will join us for our upcoming conversations.

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• Jan 11, 2021 - Church Planting with Denise LaVette
• Dec 14, 2020 - Walking with Immigrant Detainees with Bette Kauffman
• Nov 9, 2020 - Theological Education and Diaconal Formation with Maureen Hagan. 
• Oct 12, 2020 - Prisoners You Have Never Seen Before with Roxanne Klingensmith.  click here
• Sept 14, 2020 - Prayer, community, and Evangelism with Brenda Hofmann and Maureen Otwell. Go directly to last month's program by clicking here.

• May 21, 2020 - Fostering Reconciliation and Faith in the Public Policy Arena with Kathy Shannian
• May 11, 2020 - SPECIAL EDITION - Deacons' Responses to the Pandemic with Jan Grinnell and Connie Campbell-Pearson
• April 20, 2020 - SPECIAL EDITION - Deacons' Responses to the Pandemic with Jan Grinnell and Connie Campbell-Pearson
• April 16, 2020 - Dismantling Racism and the Beloved Community with Janet Tidwell
• April 6, 2020 - SPECIAL EDITION - Deacons' Responses to the Pandemic with Jan Grinnell and Connie Campbell-Pearson
• Mar 23, 2020 - - SPECIAL EDITION - Deacons' Responses to the Pandemic with Jan Grinnell and Connie Campbell-Pearson
• Dec 19, 2019 -  Responses to Oppression with Robin Hollis and Scott Deasy
• Nov 21, 2019 -  Food Scarcity with Phina Borgeson
• Oct 17, 2019 - Faith Behind and Beyond Walls with Ellen Adams

• May 5, 2019 - Rock Point's Pollinator Project with Jackie Arbuckle and Lucy Pellegrini
• Mar 21, 2019 - Ministry Along the Border (AZ) with Rodger Bobnew
• Feb 21, 2019 - Jerusalem PeaceBuilders with Jack Karn
• Nov 16, 2018 - AED and The Fund for the Diaconate with Lori Mills-Curran and Keith McCoy 
• Sept 20, 2018 - Post-General Convention with Stan Baker & Jan Grinnell

• May 18, 2018 - General Convention with Stan Baker & Jan Grinnell
• Apr 20, 2018 - The Episcopal Church and the Latino Community with Ema Rosaro-Nordalm
• Mar 15, 2018 - Dementia with Jerry Jacobs 
• Jan 18, 2018 - Tuberville Farm Coop with James Ballard and Ralph Perkins
• Dec 18, 2017 - Supporting Women Leaving Prison with Ellen Adams
• Nov 16, 2017 - The World is Our Mission - Regional Diaconal Ministry with Tom Mariconda
• Oct 19, 2017 - Refugee Resettlement with Grace Sawicki and Christine Cassels

• Apr 20, 2017 - Diaconal Ministry and Haiti with Leroy "Buck" Close
• Mar 16, 2017 - Talking About the End of Life with Lucy Pellegrini
• Feb 16, 2017 - The Hungry Soul Breakfast with Don Burr 
• Jan 19, 2017 - Foot Care Ministry with Bonnie Matthews 
• Dec 15, 2016 - Preaching with the Bible in One Hand and the Newspaper in the Other with The Rev Deacon Sudie Blanchard 
• Nov 17, 2016 - Rebirthing Campus Ministry with The Venerable Jan Grinnell  
• Oct 20, 2016 - Laundry Love with The Rev Deacon Jane Griesbach and the Rev Meredyth Ward 

• May 28, 2015 - Stan Baker Talking about General Convention
• Jan Grinnell Talking about the RI Center for Reconciliation