A Back to School Message from Bishop Waldo

As we approach another school year, Bishop Waldo discusses the opportunities that this time of new beginnings provides. And don't forget to stick around until the very end...

For information on diocesan youth retreats, visit: https://www.edusc.org/youth-formation-and-mission/

For information on the Bishop Gravatt Camp & Conference center, visit: http://www.campgravatt.org/

For information on young adult and campus ministry opportunities, visit: https://www.edusc.org/young-adult-formation/

For information on the Fellowship of South Carolina Bishops' Public Education Initiative, visit: http://bishopseducation.com/

Back to School message

In just a few weeks, the rhythm of our lives be marked once again by the beginning of a new school year.

For those of you in middle school or high school , this beginning includes new opportunities for worship, fellowship, and leadership. Youth groups and other gatherings offer a great way for you to build friendships and deepen your faith. Through the coming year, Upper South Carolina will offer several diocesan retreat opportunities for 5th graders and up—many happening right here at Camp Gravatt.

For those of you in college or just beginning your young adulthood, this new beginning might include looking for a worshipping community you can call home during this important time of your life. The Episcopal Church has a ministry presence on almost every campus in our diocese, and we want to walk with you as you make some of the most important decisions of your life.

For those of you among the countless educators across our diocese, this new beginning includes a new group of students and colleagues.

For those of you not attending school, this new beginning might include connecting with a local school—to tutor a child, to support a teacher, to advocate for legislative changes that will help all students, and all of us.

This new beginning can be filled with prayer. And I encourage all of us to pray for students, teachers, and administrators at the schools in our neighborhoods. I encourage us to pray for our Episcopal institutions: for Heathwood Hall, Mead Hall, Christ Church School, Voorhees College, and the University of the South in Sewanee.

Please know that my prayers – and the prayers of many across our diocese – are with all of you this year. There’s a prayer For Schools and Colleges in the Book of Common Prayer. I commend that prayer to all of us:

O Eternal God, bless all schools, colleges, and universities, [and especially those across this diocese], that they may be lively centers for sound learning, new discovery, and the pursuit of wisdom; and grant that those who teach and those who learn may find you to be the source of all truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

And, of course, in the midst of all this teaching, learning, supporting, and praying, no matter what our new beginning may be, there’s one more thing we need to remember. Have fun!

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