Province VIII Quarterly Meeting Minutes Feb. 2026

Province VIII Quarterly Meeting Minutes

February 19^th, 2026

Meeting called to order at 7:03 p.m. pacific time by President, Evita Krislock from the Diocese of Spokane. 

Rev. Jeff Martinhauk gave the opening prayer. 

Eric Metoyer offered a land acknowledgement. 

Attendance:

Steve Welch – Communications, Evita Krislock – Province VIII President, Sarah Che, Madeline Sampson – ECW Province VIII President, The Rev. Tom Sramek, Jr. – Grants Committee Chair, Timothy Gee, Christine Budzowski – ECW, Rev. Jeff Martinhauk – Treasurer, Eric Metoyer, Bishop Akiyama, Bishop Gretchen Rehberg, r. Miller Adams, Perry Gray-Reneberg – Diocese of Northern California, Sherina James, Shelly Carlson, Lindsay – Campus Ministries

Personal Check-In:

Participants shared personal check-ins from Advent season transitioning to the Lenten season into the Easter season.  It went around the zoom meeting by invitation and all shared. 

Minutes: No corrections to minutes from November 20^th, 2025, minutes were accepted as posted.

2026 Financial Review: Jeff Martinhauk gave a summary of the financials that there hasn’t been much activity thus far this year. Bottom line is we are in great shape financially, continue to be in good shape financially. We are off to a good start this year. 

Grants: Rev. Tom Sramek, Jr. Grants Committee got off to a late start in January.  We are going to be doing a two-tiered grants program in the spring and fall for major grants.  We will have available minor grants rolling throughout the year so as we get those applications we will vet and process them. 

Executive Council: Timothy Gee stated the only thing to report is that Executive Council will be meeting tomorrow morning and one of the key items they will be working on is to move forward with a strategic plan for the Episcopal Church. Executive Committee will hear more about what their role will be in it and hope that the plan will be ready by the end of the year.  Secondly, the budget process is underway for the next triennium/ Budget Committee is working on it and will be sending out a schedule when budget hearings will be held.  Timothy also stated he couldn’t remember if he informed the group that the Episcopal Church has a new accounting system. 

President Evita Krislock reminded everyone to please submit their ministries reports to Steve Welch so they can be posted on the website, and also for you to review the website to check and see what you might consider would be helpful, what the needs were.

President Daughters of the King Province VIII - Shelly Carlson: Shelly Carlson proposed to the board that Province VIII Daughters of the King would establish and manage a prayer request on the website.  Province VIII is a vast area, and this would connect the congregations, the ministries, the diocese, and build community through our faith and prayer. Our shared faith practice provides consistent and organized prayer support. And it brings a closeness to the province that is geographically spread over a large area. The management of the prayer community will include organized prayer meetings. Overseeing intake and distribution of prayer requests. Ensuring confidentiality protocols are upheld, recruiting and mentoring volunteer prayer coordinators. Quarterly reports will be given to the board at meetings. I respectfully request the boards approval to move forward with this approval. Building bridges through our episcopal province. 

Gretchen Rehberg: Why are you, Shelly Carlson seeking the Executive Committee of the Province to do this? Why don’t the Daughters of the King just do it? What are you actually wanting us to formally do, other than say, fine, start prayer? 

Shelly Carlson: It would be more than just the Daughters of the King involved. It would be the website of Province VIII, the Episcopal Church. I wanted to request approval to set this up on the website with the assistance of Steve Welch and let people know it is available should they wish to use it as a source for prayer requests.  

Key Announcements:

Leadership Transition: Bishop Gretchen Rehberg announce she is stepping down as President of the Provincial House of Bishops.  Bishop Akiyama has agreed to assume this role. 

R. Miller Adams: Gave some history of the province and being chancellor.  This will be my last triennium as chancellor and starting the end of this year I will be working with Evita since the President appoints the chancellor,  to identify some candidates by the time you do your senate. 

Creation care:  Perry Gray-Reneberg shared progress on a proposed churchwide “green calendar” of creation care events and will distribute additional information. There is a creation care retreat in Salt Lake City, Utah at the end of September 2026.  

Church Periodical Club: Christine Budzowski announced the annual quilt raffle fundraiser and shared a link for participation.  

Episcopal Church Woman (ECW): Madeline Sampson provided updates on provincial ECW activities and the ongoing bishop election process in Navajoland. 

Technology and Meeting Practices:

The attendants reviewed Zoom settings and confirmed that recordings, and automated summaries would not be distributed to non-attendees. Meeting materials will be limited to participants. 

Pastoral Reports:

Pastoral experiences were shared including hospital chaplaincy, community crises, and the weight of the ministries. The entire group committed to hold one another, their communities, and those affected by violence, illness, and loss in prayer. 

Group Discussion: Very good group discussion involving everyone that will be continued about communication and processes in the province.  It is the start and will continue to grow over time. 

Action Items:

• Steve Welch to review and confirm Zoom meeting settings are correct so there is no automatic distribution or summaries sent out. 

• Steve Welch to review grant application text submitted by Rev. Tom Sramek, Jr...

• Christine Budzowski to share the Church Periodical Club raffle link for the quilt raffle wider promotion.

• Perry Gray-Reneberg to distribute information and link related to Creation Care “green calendar” initiative. 

Closing Prayer: Prayer was given by Gretchen Rehberg

Meeting was adjourned at 8:48 p.m. Pacific Time

Respectfully submitted, 

Shelly Carlson