St. Jude, Wantagh, NY, featured in fourth video of healthy Episcopal congregational practices

[<publicaffairs@episcopalchurch.org>]

>The Episcopal Church

>Office of Public Affairs

St. Jude, Wantagh, NY, featured in fourth video

of healthy Episcopal congregational practices 

>Transforming Churches, Changing the World

[May 10, 2011] St. Jude may be the Patron Saint of Hopeless Causes, but
for a Long Island, NY Episcopal Church named for the saint, the church
is far from hopeless.

At one time, St. Jude's in Wantagh experienced declining membership and
dwindling resources, but today the church is growing and reflects its
local community. Working together, the congregation was "deliberate and
very strategic in wanting to bring about positive change and
long-reaching vision," noted the Rev. Bob Honeychurch, Episcopal Church
Officer for Congregational Vitality.

St. Jude's, in the Diocese of Long Island, is the focus of the fourth of
five videos in the groundbreaking series, Transforming Churches,
Changing the World. Produced by the Episcopal Church Office of
Communication, the video is available on the home page of the Episcopal
Church website www.episcopalchurch.org <http://www.episcopalchurch.org/
, the Congregational Vitality page www.episcopalchurch.org/vitality
<http://www.episcopalchurch.org/vitality> and on the Church's Facebook
page  www.facebook.com/episcopalian

Calling the area on Long Island "classic suburbia," the Rev. Christopher
Hofer, rector, notes, "St. Jude's was founded in 1956, a time on Long
Island when every community had an Episcopal Church." 

When he arrived, Hofer reports in the video, the first thing that struck
him was a lack of children in church, despite many youngsters living
throughout the community. Now, nearly 10 years later, he reflects that
changes -- "incremental changes" which add up - have transformed St.
Jude's into a welcoming church with "joyful liturgy" along with many
programs, described by Hofer as "kid-centered, adult friendly."

>Transforming Churches, Changing the World

The purpose of the Transforming Churches, Changing the World video
project is to present identifying characteristics of healthy churches
with a focus on ministry and outreach.

A new video in the Transforming Churches, Changing the World series will
be presented each month through May 2011.  

Previous videos featured Christ Church, Philadelphia, PA (Diocese of
Pennsylvania), Trinity Cathedral, Phoenix AZ (Diocese of Arizona), and
St Paul & the Redeemer, Chicago, IL (Diocese of Chicago) are available
here: www.episcopalchurch.org/vitality

The Episcopal Church welcomes all who worship Jesus Christ in 109
dioceses and three regional areas in 16 nations.  The Episcopal Church
is a member province of the worldwide Anglican Communion. 

>St. Jude: http://www.thechurchofstjude.org/ 

Diocese of Long Island: http://www.dioceselongisland.org/ 

>The Episcopal Church: www.episcopalchurch.org
><http://www.episcopalchurch.org/> 

>Facebook: www.facebook.com/episcopalian

Twitter: twitter.com/iamepiscopalian

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>YouTube: www.youtube.com/TECtube

># # # #

>For more info contact:

>Neva Rae Fox

>Public Affairs Officer

>The Episcopal Church

>publicaffairs@episcopalchurch.org
><mailto:publicaffairs@episcopalchurch.org> 

>212-716-6080  Mobile: 917-478-5659

> 

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