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[Episcopal News Service] The Standing Committee of the Diocese of the Dominican Republic on Aug. 7 released a slate of four candidates for bishop coadjutor. The candidates are:   The Rev. Milquella R. Mendoza, a priest based in the Dominican Republic’s Santiago Province.  The Rev. Marivel Natera Milien, associate rector of Spanish and Families Ministries for St. George’s Episcopal Church in Summerville, South Carolina.  The Rev. Isaac Emilio Pringle Mejía, a priest who serves various parishes in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic.  The Rev. Vanel Saint Juste, a priest who serves various parishes in San Pedro de Marcorís and Consuelo, Dominican Republic. The bishop coadjutor will eventually succeed the diocese’s fourth bishop, the Rt. Rev. Moisés Quezada Mota, who has led the diocese since 2016. The election is scheduled for Oct. 31.  The Santo Domingo-based Diocese of the Dominican Republic, which is part of The Episcopal Church’s Province IX, has about 5,000 members and 67 missions throughout the Caribbean nation on the eastern half of the island of Hispaniola.

[Religion News Service] From the Garden of Eden to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Mary Magdalene mistook the risen Christ for a gardener, cultivated green spaces have long held a special place in Christianity. Now, in a corner of west London, England, an Anglican church is using its proximity to one of the most famous botanical gardens in the world, Kew Gardens, as a reason for a new venture linking theology and nature. St Anne’s Church launched a new charity, Kew Theology & Gardening, to help deepen people’s connection with nature, develop a theology of the environment and explore climate change. The project started small in 2024 with talks for the local community but has since expanded to sponsoring retreats, partly held in Kew Gardens and partly in St Anne’s. Now the charity is hosting major lectures. The most significant so far will be held this September, when Carmody Grey, professor of integral ecology at Radboud University in the Netherlands and a visiting professor at the London School of Economics, will talk on Sept. 30 on “What Are We Here For? Gardening and the Human Vocation” in the garden’s lecture theater. A previous lecture was given by then-director of gardens at Kew, Richard Barley, while another future lecture will be given by environmental biologist Martin J. Hodson, a visiting researcher at Oxford Brookes University. “In Britain gardening is just about the most popular activity there is,” said St Anne’s vicar, Giles Fraser. “People spend so much time with their hands in the soil. It’s how they connect with creation — and the story of creation began in a garden. “We garden on our knees, we pray on our knees. That’s the image I had in my mind when this started,” he added. Fraser, who is well-known as a broadcaster in Britain and has just completed a series on church-going for BBC radio, said that his parish was keen to find more ways to connect with its neighbor, Kew Gardens, which is known throughout the world for its research and attracts millions of visitors every year. The connection between St. Anne’s and the gardens, the parish believes, will help people reflect not only on creation but on the environment and threats to it, such as climate change. The Kew Theology & Gardening project comes at a time when the Church of England is increasing its work on environmental matters. In July, the church published a major teaching document on care for creation called “Hope for All Creation: A Theological Response to the Environmental Crises.” The document argues that creation care is not an option but a core part of Christian belief and mission. It sees environmental action as an expression of hope and roots care for the planet in the biblical story of creation, redemption and renewal, structured around the themes “See, Reflect, Respond.” In their foreword to the document, Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally and Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell say that “we inhabit a world groaning with the growing impact of the climate and environmental crises. Their scale is daunting, and the devastation and suffering they bring — to which more and more people are increasingly vulnerable, especially those in poverty — are growing in scale and intensity. We can feel powerless and overwhelmed in the face of these things and our fears for the future.” But they also write, “To care for creation in partnership with others, to show solidarity with the vulnerable, to be prophetic in speech and action on these issues — locally, nationally and globally — is to live out this faith and hope. It is an essential part of following Jesus and sharing the Gospel today.” The Church of England’s General Synod has also just approved a new annual Festival of Creation in Christ to be celebrated in Church of England churches on the first Sunday of September — traditionally a time when churches mark the harvest season, reminding people of both their responsibility for stewarding the earth and to express thankfulness for God’s abundance. According to Grey, who is preparing her Kew lecture, humanity has two vocations that can be expressed in biblical terms: to be fruitful and multiply and to till and keep — both of which can be expressed through gardening. “Tilling and keeping and fruitfulness are defining marks of the human life and so are at the core of theological anthropology,” she said. “We have sometimes made too great a difference between beauty and utility, but these two aspects of life show how they are connected. We have children partly for survival but also as an expression of joy. The same is true of gardening — they overlap.” Grey also expressed concern that people do not appreciate the importance of plant life enough, citing the example of people being shown a photo of animals in a landscape. When asked to point out life in the photo, they almost always indicate the animals, and when shown a photo of a landscape, they almost always say there is nothing there. “The Bible highlights the importance of all life, including plant life, and the imagery of the tree is a key focus of the Bible,” she said. Kew Theology & Gardening has devised a walk called Stations of the Trees, based on the Christian devotion of Stations of the Cross, with each station or stopping point in the gardens focusing on a particular aspect of the environmental crisis. Among the stations is the carbon garden, focusing on the importance of carbon and problems associated with excessive carbon; boards highlighting Kew’s role in collecting seeds, with a reflection on the parable of the sower; and the rose garden, where prayers reminding pilgrims of the rosary are offered to Mary. Also included is a visit to olive trees, representing the Garden of Gethsemane, where Christ prayed with foreboding before he was arrested while his disciples slept. Pilgrims are urged to wake up and are given a […]

The Synod 2026 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document is now available. The resource has been created to address common questions that have emerged from CRCNA leaders and congregations following the decisions made at this year’s synod. The FAQ document is intended to provide additional context and clarity for people seeking to understand Synod 2026’s actions and their implications for the denomination. In a letter to the CRC’s community of churches, Zachary King, general secretary of the CRCNA, reflected on Synod 2026 and the importance of ongoing communication following the gathering: “Synod 2026 addressed a host of forward-looking, ministry, and mission-related topics, including the future of church planting, issues of denominational funding, realignment of classis boundaries, and a number of other...

When Sharon Bandstra looks across the concrete floors of a former gas station in Terrace, B.C., she sees a simple, practical response to a city in need. Known as The Garage Community Space, the nonprofit facility provides space for food distribution, medical support, addiction recovery groups, and social services. The project, said Bandstra, grew out of a shared desire to take an active, hands-on role in the local neighborhood. The idea for The Garage developed during a challenging time in Terrace, a city facing high per-capita overdose rates, economic strain, and increasing numbers of people experiencing homelessness. In 2019 and 2021, local government leaders held town-hall meetings to address public frustration. "Things were getting worse, not better," Bandstra said. "The...

On April 26, 2026, over 1,000 people filled the sanctuary of Grace Community Chapel in Teaneck, N.J. Standing before the altar were senior pastor Jae Park, who planted the church 21 years ago, and his wife, Jee Park, along with 31 church members and their children (about 60 members total) who decided to move to Korea with them. It was a commissioning service to plant a new church in Seoul, South Korea. Pastor Park later wrote on Facebook: "There is almost no natural reason for us to choose this path. This is a path sent by God." Having immigrated to the United States at the age of 12 and spent his whole life near New York City, what made him...

This article originally appeared in Dordt News, the online publishing hub of Dordt University: https://www.dordt.edu/news Christians from a wide range of professions will gather at Dordt University September 17–19 for the At Work in the Garden conference, a three-day faith and work event designed to help participants explore how faith shapes their daily work through creativity, cultivation, and care. Hosted by Dordt University, the conference invites educators, business leaders, artists, nonprofit professionals, pastors, healthcare workers, students, and others to consider how God calls his people to participate in the renewal of creation through their vocations. Through keynote presentations, breakout sessions, worship, and shared conversation, attendees will gain practical ideas for faithfully serving God and their neighbors in every sphere of...

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay extended congratulations to Rev. Janet Anstead, who has been appointed as the new general secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches.

After a two-decade pause, The United Methodist Church in Nigeria restarted a program that provides vocational training to young people and offers graduates startup money to help launch their own businesses.

Nanu Martin, a climate journalist and ecumenist, shared the news that the World Council of Churches (WCC) Thursdays in Black campaign was introduced and promoted during a Climate Education and Capacity Building Programme held at Odisha Christian Theological College, Gopalpur, Odisha, India.