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June 11-14, Des Moines, Iowa

[Episcopal News Service] The Diocese of Central New York is planning to relocate its diocesan headquarters to a larger facility in Syracuse that will expand its capacity to host meetings, house diocesan archives and foster ministry development. The diocese, which spans New York’s midsection from the Canadian border to the Pennsylvania state line, is currently based in Liverpool, a Syracuse suburb. Its lease on the 3,500 square feet it occupies in an office park there expires in April 2027. Bishop DeDe Duncan-Probe said in a message to the diocese that the search for a new location originated in conversations that date back to 2018. “Our ability to remain connected and engaged is essential to the well-being of our parishes,” Duncan-Probe said, adding that the Liverpool facility does not meet the diocese’s needs. “Without the empowerment of a central hub, we are missing the necessary support to stay connected.” In June, diocesan leaders visited several potential new sites for the diocesan offices and agreed on a 6,000-square-foot facility that currently houses a podiatrist’s office and a law office and has a dedicated parking lot. The diocese made an offer of $400,000 and is waiting for the purchase to be finalized. “If the purchase is successful, we will renovate the space to meet the needs of the diocese with an eye to future potential. It is also our intention that this new Diocesan Center be as eco-friendly and sustainable as possible,” Duncan-Probe said. The diocese will use investment proceeds and revenue from the sale of closed churches to pay for the new property without raising congregations’ assessments, she said. “I am grateful for the faithful work of our discernment team and all those who contributed to making this possible,” she said.

Rev. Dr Deborah Niederer Saxon, an educator and pastor in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and her husband, John Saxon, visited the World Council of Churches (WCC), staying at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey. 

Rev. Kevin Keegan is the Asia-Pacific regional director for MegaVoice, which specializes in distributing solar-powered audio Bibles to remote and marginalized communities.

Discussion forums with hundreds of residents in neighborhoods and villages are giving shape to new perspectives on what it means to belong to the place one calls home.

Despite rising costs and visa troubles, organizers are pressing ahead with the gathering intended to help set a new course for The United Methodist Church.

Rev. Dr Susan Durber, World Council of Churches president from Europe, has been elected moderator of United Reformed Church General Assembly from July 2027 to July 2028.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed grave concern about the developments of violence in South Africa targeting migrants from other African countries.

The lifelong United Methodist, who died July 9 at age 77, was inspired by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to fight injustice. She went on to inspire countless others as a deaconess and servant leader.

[Episcopal News Service] Joshua Maria Garcia first downloaded TikTok as a joke. But what started as casual posts became genuine reflections on their faith journey. Then, Garcia said, “I kind of lived out my spiritual crisis on the internet.” They weren’t the only one. Over time, they encountered more people online who sought belonging and theological meaning in faith lives that, like Garcia’s, are complicated. Their TikTok now has over 25,000 followers. Garcia, an Episcopal seminarian at the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, is among a growing number of creators ranging from clergy to lay people to monastics who make religious content accessible online. The most exciting videos to make, Garcia said, are collaborative. Sometimes they make videos with other Episcopalians, interact with commenters, and even get into arguments about matters of faith. “I think what we’re doing in those conversations is modeling what church can be, maybe should be, in my humble opinion,” Garcia, who is resident in the Diocese of Rhode Island, said. “The posts that show there’s a different way to respond, a different way to react, a caring, loving way to disagree, that’s actually really valuable.” Garcia said they grew up with a negative perception of Christianity on both sides of their family. While their mother’s family was what they described as “old-school Congregationalist” turned “pseudo-Baptist, evangelical non-denom[inational]” Christians, they chose to follow the faith of their father’s family, who immigrated to the United States as Jewish refugees escaping pogroms in Ukraine. “Judaism was a breath of fresh air for me because it had a lot of structure and a lot of openness at the same time,” Garcia said. “Kind of like The Episcopal Church.” After two years of rabbinical school at Hebrew College in Boston, Massachusetts, Garcia walked into the dean’s office and told her, “I think I’m a Christian.” Their dean responded with support that they said they will never forget. In the following years, Garcia explored their faith, experiencing Episcopal liturgy at the monastery of the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Boston, getting baptized in a pond by a United Church of Christ pastor and even reverting to Judaism. It was the frank, empathetic conversations with others – Jewish friends who nudged them back to Christianity and an Episcopal priest who invited them to worship – that Garcia said helped them find their way to the church where they would soon discern a call to ministry. Garcia said their honesty online about their faith identity, especially as a young, queer person who considers themself theologically conservative, has permitted others to be vulnerable. Some of these followers have also found a home in The Episcopal Church. “I think the traditional orientation and radical inclusion of the church is really where it’s at,” Garcia said. “And I think that’s what ‘all’ the young people of the internet are seeing in The Episcopal Church right now.” More of Garcia’s experiences and wisdom can now be found off the internet and on bookshelves with the publication of their new devotional, “A Tranquil Body: Finding the Peace of God in Breath, Movement, and Awareness.” “A Tranquil Body” is a collection of meditative exercises that Garcia intended to be accessible to people of many abilities. Garcia began meditating when they were 12 years old, but with ADHD, silent stillness never seemed to work for them. After being told too many times to “try harder,” they thought there must be another way to find spiritual peace. They said that while Episcopalians might be comfortable with traditional practices like lectio divina, this book presents methods of meditation that will be unfamiliar to some. “Once you start talking about moving your body in a spiritual way or actual breathwork or visualization, it’s like, ‘ooh that’s a little woo-woo,’” Garcia said. “But the reality is, for those of us who can’t do the silent, quiet thing, that’s what we need. And if that’s what we need to be also faithful Christians because that’s what we’re called to, then that’s what we need.” Offering spiritual practices in this format was daunting at times, they said. They wrote the manuscript during their first semester of seminary, surrounded by professors who are published academic authors. “I’m looking at their books, and I’m going like, “Oh my gosh, how dare I even pretend to be an author?” Garcia said. “So, it was also an experience of figuring out how to hold my own and how to hold myself and believe in what I was writing, even if it was a very different style and register from what my teachers had done that I so admire.” Ultimately, Garcia said the experience of writing “A Tranquil Body” helped them rethink notions of authority and approval. They said the church is begging for more young people to offer their perspectives. Online and in print, Garcia does what they said The Episcopal Church is good at: make God approachable to all, regardless of identity, ability or background. “My story is a really good example of how religion is not a zero-sum game and that we can support each other in differences,” they said. –Logan Crews is a freelance reporter and hospital chaplain resident in the Diocese of Missouri.