A memorial rite was held to honor the life of the Reverend Deaconess Edith Wood Forgy on Saturday November 21, 2009, at the Memorial Chapel of The Holy Child. Edith passed into the Light on October 19, 2009, at the age of 77. The order for service included scriptural readings, eulogy, benediction of commital, and final blessing. A banquet reception to celebrate the life of our departed Sister in Light was held in the vestibule following the service. Flowers for the memorial were donated by the Reverends Nola Slevin and Robert Roy. The eulogy for Edith was composed and delivered by her long-time friend and housemate the Reverend Canon Rebecca Willis. A transcript of the eulogy follows:

“Edith was born May 15, 1932, in Texas. Her family moved frequently and lived in several towns along the Texas coast. She did dearly love Texas and spoke frequently about the hill country and about the coastal area. She graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with a masters in accounting, and was one of the first women to obtain this degree from Texas University. She worked 40 years as the accountant for a construction firm: Austin Engineering. She was close to the owners and greatly enjoyed the many trips she shared with them on the company boat and to Mexican resorts.

“Those of us in The Church first met Edith in October of 1985 when she came for Convocation. She was ordained on October 31, 1985, with a class of 14 members, including myself. She always referred to us as the Halloween Kids.

“The two of us made an immediate connection with the Church Community and began coming for weekends at least once a month. She would fly in from Austin and I from Denver, and we met in Reno to attend the weekend services. By the Christmas season of 1986 we were beginning to make plans to move to Reno. After chapel during the vigil that year, Rev. Gene announced that The Church was to receive a donation of the Steamboat Hot Springs. On a drive out to look the afternoon of the announcement, Edith was particularly dismayed to see the terrible state of disrepair of the property prior to any renovations. During 1987 Edith moved from Austin to Reno and into a parsonage at Steamboat. The current production building was not yet on the Steamboat property, but that building was eventually to become our parsonage. It was moved from Flint Street in Reno to Steamboat and renovated by work crews and Church building staff.

“When Edith arrived in Reno she had breast cancer. After surgery and laetrile treatments the cancer was still active. Reverend Gene gave her some solar techniques to do, and within a year she was cancer free.

“During her time in Reno Edith was a minister under full vows. She worked on many projects and helped as a member of the Chancellery staff as well as at Steamboat. She loved transcribing, and many of the set of lectures we now have in printed form were transcribed by her from the original recordings. She will be remembered by those who knew and worked with her for her smile, her sense of humor, and her love of animals, particularly cats and dogs. Reano will remember how much she loved to dance, and they shared many dances together at parties at the Rectory. Nola remembers how much Edith hated snow. Whenever snow was predicted she would chant “no snow, no snow, no snow.” One weekend, snow was predicted for Sunday morning, and she was particularly vehement about her “no snow” chant. On Sunday morning we had a record snow fall, which caused services to be cancelled. Edith and Nola laughed about this for some time.

“In 1997 Edith decided that she needed to return to Austin to take care of her sister. She kept in close touch with the Church and attended Convocations until her health began to fail. It was hard to get her to say what her health problems were, she always brushed it aside. saying. ‘one day at a time.’ She had many good friends in the Church, and several have left messages in her memory on the internet Guest Book from the Funeral Chapel in Texas.”

The 24^th annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Eve Service was held Wednesday November 25, 2009, at Sparks United Methodist Church. This worship service of prayers, readings, and music from a variety of faith traditions permitted individual faith leaders to express praise and thanks in the manner of their own traditions in company with all others in attendance. Bishop Gene Savoy Jr., president of the Nevada Clergy Association and chairman of the planning committee, was instrumental in organizing the event, which has become a cornerstone of interfaith relations in the Reno/Sparks area. Representing the International Community of Christ, Bishop Savoy delivered the benediction and the Reverend Dr. Bill Bartlett recited a Buddhist prayer. The Reverends Gary and Amanda Buchanan and the Reverend Deacon Stephan Fuelling, representing the Jamilian Handbell Choir, assisted the Shepherd’s Bells of the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in performing the Call to Worship. Other recitations were delivered from the Protestant, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Hindu, Jewish, Baha’i, and Native American traditions. Choir selections were performed by the Reno Stake of Latter-Day Saints, Trinity Episcopal, and the Reno Buddhist Church. Dr. Clair Earl, outgoing president of the Reno Stake of LDS, delivered the keynote address. Monetary contributions collected were given to Family Promise, and food donations were given to help feed the hungry. Three hundred people were in attendance.

In a special two-hour class held at Truckee Meadows Community College, the Reverend Gary Robert Buchanan of the International Community of Christ represented Christianity in a many-sided discussion of the topic “Religion and the Paranormal.” Other religions represented were Hinduism, Judaism, and Spiritualism. Before a general panel discussion, each representative was given ten minutes to speak on the topic from his or her perspective. Much of the discussion centered around reincarnation, daemons, channeling, and spiritual healing.

A meeting of Northern Nevada faith leaders was held August 28, 2009, at Joe Crowley Student Union on the University of Nevada-Reno campus, hosted by U.S. Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV). The purpose of this roundtable discussion among Northern Nevada interfaith leaders was to discuss the importance of faith in Nevada, as well as the role of clergy and religious organizations in working to address issues of mutual concern. The meeting was a prelude to a larger faith summit that the senator hopes to hold in November. Rt. Rev. Gene Savoy assisted Reid’s staff in organizing the meeting, through the budding Nevada Clergy Association, and at the meeting served to introduce Reid to the assembly of religious leaders, almost seventy in all, and to moderate and close the meeting. In the future, Savoy will be working with Reid’s staff to put together the larger and more comprehensive faith summit in November.

The breakfast meeting on October 19, 2009, sponsored by Food Bank of Northern Nevada in conjunction with Feeding America brought together local faith leaders to commemorate International World Food Day. Representing the International Community of Christ was the Reverend Canon Robert Petrovich. Local Food Bank officials spoke at the meeting and introduced speakers from the local community to discuss their experiences in this area. Among these were Lori Anderson, an elementary school principal from Sun Valley, who gave examples of how the Food Bank program works at her school, where 94-99{1fa2ef75e2e78439128d99df03acfe1d8ee3047374abe3d4676fe3470ff8b909} of the students are enrolled in both the Food Bank program and a federal program to provide them with all their primary meals. Local elected officials described the situation of need throughout Washoe County, where about 100,000 people per year now receive assistance from Food Bank. Food Bank officials noted that about 60{1fa2ef75e2e78439128d99df03acfe1d8ee3047374abe3d4676fe3470ff8b909} of the aid provided by Food Bank is provided by faith-based groups.

The 6^th Annual Dialogue and Friendship Dinner, held at the downtown Reno Ballroom, was attended by the Right Reverend Gene Savoy Jr. Hosted by the Sierra Foundation, founded in 2004 by the Turkish-American Community of Northern Nevada, the annual dinner reinforces friendship and dialogue between diverse communities and emphasizes the values of mutual respect, understanding, love, and peace. The Sierra Foundation promotes harmony within diversity among he world’s cultures. Bishop Savoy was invited to speak at the 2007 dinner and visited Turkey in 2006 at the invitation of the Sierra Foundation.

The open-air Church of New Philadelphia was reconsecrated on Sunday September 13, 2009, by Head bishop Gene Savoy Jr and Bishop Sean Savoy. The consecration ceremony immediately preceded the Communion Service performed there by the Reverend Ted Staver, newly appointed rector of the Church of New Philadelphia.

A consecration and dedication of the new communion table at the open-air Church of New Epiphany was performed by the Right Reverends Gene and Sean Savoy prior to Divine Service on Sunday October 11, 2009. The new table was installed earlier this season to replace the original table, which had succumbed to weather and dry rot over the past twenty years.

Bridget Elizabeth O’Mara and Daniel Newton Harmon were joined in holy matrimony in the presence of family and friends on October 11, 2009, at the California Building in Idlewild Park, Reno, Nevada, by the Right Reverend Gene Savoy Jr. Bridget and Daniel are acquaintances of Bishop Savoy and requested that he perform their wedding ceremony.

On Wednesday October 7, 2009, the Reverend Deacon Robert Anderson performed the sacrament of anointing and last rites on his former partner of twenty years, Richard Aune, who lay dying of colon cancer. The Right Reverend Sean Savoy instructed and prepared Anderson in Reno for the performing of the rite. The anointing was done at Aune’s home in Palm Springs, California, with his daughter and son-in-law attending. Aune was not conscious for the ceremony but had earlier given Anderson permission to do the rite. Aune’s daughter and son-in-law received comfort from witnessing the rite. Aune passed into the Light less than two days later in the presence of Anderson and Aune’s daughter and son-in-law.