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World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed deep sorrow and grave concern over the recent tragic developments in Syria, where, according to some sources, more than 1,000 civilians, primarily from the Alawite community, have been massacred.

[Episcopal News Service] The Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice in Durham, North Carolina, has denounced the removal of a biography of Murray from the National Park Service website about the Murray Family Home, a National Historic Landmark. Murray, who was a pioneering attorney who fought against racial and gender discrimination, was the first Black woman to be ordained a priest in The Episcopal Church, in 1977. They died in 1985. A press release from the center said it “condemns the federal government’s efforts to erase Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, and their invaluable contributions to our society, from the digital record.” It added, “The federal government has disabled at least one webpage, and scrubbed language related to Murray’s transgender and queer identities on others, on the National Park Service website,” alongside “other figures and sites recognized by NPS, including the Stonewall National Monument, Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and others.” After taking office on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump issued a series of executive orders aimed at removing references across federal agencies and departments to issues of diversity and “gender ideology.” By early February, agency websites began to remove mention of transgender or queer people and changed the acronym LGBTQ (for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) to LGB. The center’s statement noted, “Members of the LGBTQIA+ community have always been a part of the rich fabric of our society. Rev. Dr. Murray exists in a lineage of LGBTQIA+ Southerners who have advanced social justice work on a national scale, and whose contributions have gone on to shape history. Erasing this truth at the federal level censures American history and compromises the work of transgender and queer activists who stand in Murray’s wake today.” Angela Thorpe Mason, the center’s executive director, said in the statement, “We will not be deterred from uplifting Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray’s identity, life and legacy as we work toward addressing today’s inequities and injustices. We equally condemn the federal government’s actions and stand firm in ours. The Pauli Murray Center will be a space for us to continue to articulate what we know to be true.” Last September the center celebrated the grand opening of the former Murray home, which serves as the space where the center conducts a variety of programs. Murray, who was born Anna Pauline Murray in Baltimore, Maryland, shortened her name to “Pauli” after college to reflect a less-gendered identity. As described in an ENS story from 2022, Murray went on to study law at Howard University, the only woman enrolled, and graduated first in the class of 1944. Murray was the first African American to earn a doctor of the science of laws degree from Yale University Law School. They were a co-founder of the National Organization for Women and the Congress of Racial Equality. As a lawyer, Murray argued against “Jane Crow,” in recognition of their struggle against both racial segregation and gender discrimination. In 1940, Murray was arrested for disorderly conduct for refusing to move to the back of a bus in Petersburg, Virginia, 15 years before Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama. Murray also organized restaurant and lunch counter sit-ins in Washington, D.C., 20 years before the famous Greensboro, North Carolina, protests. Former NAACP President and future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall called Murray’s book, “States’ Laws on Race and Color,” the bible of the civil rights movement. Another future Supreme Court justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, named Murray as coauthor of a brief on the 1971 case Reed v. Reed, in recognition of her pioneering work on gender discrimination. Murray was also one of five pioneering women selected to be featured in the U.S. Mint’s American Women Quarters program. By action of General Convention in 2018, Murray  was added to the calendar of Lesser Feasts and Fasts; their feast day is observed on July 1. The Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska will host a special Pauli Murray weekend in April, including an April 4 screening of the documentary film “My Name is Pauli Murray” followed by a panel discussion, and the world premiere on April 5 of a new choral work, “Sincerely Yours, Pauli Murray,” sung by the River City Mixed Chorus. — Melodie Woerman is an Episcopal News Service freelance reporter based in Kansas.

A conversation about church planting, closures and revitalisation across the island

A morning with Alan and Pauline Wilson about self-care for a sustainable ministry

The first of a series of webinars on Christian unity, “The Bishop of Rome and Christian Unity,” will be offered on 18 March 2025 

[Anglican Journal] The Anglican Church of Canada should consider making major cuts to the size of its governance gatherings and committees, says the report of a commission tasked with reimagining its future. The church is about a quarter the size it was in 1967, but its governance groups remain the same size, the commission’s chair, Archdeacon Monique Stone, told Council of General Synod March 7. The report makes the same point and asks, “How can the size of church governance structures in the Anglican Church of Canada be reduced by 75 per cent?” Stone told CoGS this figure was intended more as a conversation-starter than a fixed target — but maintained that the report envisaged serious transformation. “This is not just tweaks, this is big change,” she said. Archdeacon Alan Perry, general secretary of General Synod, contacted the Journal after the original version of this piece was posted to offer a different perspective on the size of the church’s structures. In some ways, Perry said, they have grown since 1967 — with, for example, the addition of two new Newfoundland dioceses in 1975 — but in general the trend since then has been toward smaller structures as the church has changed with the times. CoGS, for example, has fewer members than its predecessor, the National Executive Council; and some committees are also smaller. “Yes, dioceses (30 rather than 28), provinces (still four), and a General Synod still exist, but they all look different and in general they are all smaller in their structures of governance than they were in 1967,” he said in an email. “The structures have been in constant flux since the beginning. They have evolved, are evolving and will evolve.” The document Stone presented to CoGS recommended General Synod 2025 give the officers of General Synod — including the primate, general secretary, chancellor, prolocutor and deputy prolocutor — the mandate and resources to propose a major revision to the church’s organization which they would present and begin implementing at the following General Synod in 2028. “Current institutional structures are larger than necessary at every level (General Synod, ecclesiastical provinces, and the number of dioceses),” the document, titled Creating Pathways, reads. “This top-heavy structure focuses human and financial resources on maintaining outsized institutions rather than proclaiming the gospel in local communities.” The cuts called for in this section of the document, Stone told the Anglican Journal, are intended to apply to the number of members on committees and to the number of church members at governance gatherings like CoGS and General Synod. They are not, she said, necessarily intended to apply to the relatively small number of church staff. The commission, convened by former primate Archbishop Linda Nicholls in 2023, recommends six processes for the church to begin work on to fulfill the mandate of adapting the church to the needs of a smaller membership and a 21st century social and political landscape. Its report is based on feedback — in the form of 297 responses to an online survey as well as interviews and Zoom meetings with staff at church house and Anglicans across the country — regarding a set of seven conversation-starting “hypotheses” for the future of the Anglican Church of Canada that the commission put forward in 2023. CoGS voted March 7 to commend the six pathways to June’s General Synod gathering for discussion and action. The central question of these recommendations is what form the church’s governance structures would take if they were being designed for the first time to meet the needs of the church today, said Stone. In addition to changes at the General Synod level, that may involve restructuring at the diocesan and provincial levels, which General Synod does not have the authority to mandate directly, she notes. What it can do, however, is play a leadership role in the conversation, encouraging regional governance bodies in the church to cooperate on a unified vision for what the new shape of the church will be. The six pathways along which the document recommends the church proceed are: Organizational structure, dealing with the governance gatherings and committees of the church; Management overview and restructuring, with suggestions for the transparency, accountability and organization of the office of General Synod and its staff; Inclusion and diversity in decision making, responding to calls for greater and more equal accessibility of participation in church governance; Communications, involving discussions on the future of the Anglican Journal as well as the national church’s overall strategy for disseminating information and connecting members across the country; Walking in partnership with the Indigenous church; Ministry in remote northern communities. During the consultation process, the report states, it became apparent many Anglicans were unclear as to the jurisdiction, responsibilities, functions and accountability mechanisms of General Synod (which is the name both of the church’s once-every-three-years gathering and the national church as a legal entity, which has its own office at Church House in Toronto). As a result, it continues, “Deep frustrations exist amongst members of the wider church who are asked to share their own declining financial resources with the office of General Synod without a clear understanding of what takes place there or where accountability lies.” Meanwhile, staff have experienced frustration as mandates from CoGS, General Synod, department heads and individual Anglicans conflict, the document says. To solve these problems, the second pathway proposes a managerial review of the office’s departments and mandates to align their work with the current needs of the church, clarify mandates and clarify the scope of responsibilities to staff, leadership and Anglicans across the country. The third pathway describes the current format and procedures of General Synod meetings as failing to be inclusive to people from a variety of cultural backgrounds, incomes, ages and other social and cultural classes. “It was felt” the legislative debate format of meetings has left many people feeling left out and created barriers to participation, the report says, resulting in a system that “continues to attract […]

Fighting in eastern Congo has affected United Methodist families and ministries, including an attack at United Methodist Irambo Health Center in Bukavu.

March 10, 2025 Dear Moravian Friends: We, the bishops serving in the Northern and Southern Provinces, greet you with the grace, mercy, peace, and love of Jesus Christ, our Chief Elder. We send you this letter as we find ourselves in a divided world that needs God’s love. In his first letter to the Corinthians, […]

[Anglican Communion News Service] The Anglican Communion’s United Nations representative in Geneva, the Rev. Glen Ruffle, spoke to the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council in late February about the need for politicians in South Sudan to show more commitment to the nation’s peace process. Tensions in South Sudan are rising, and on March 5 the embassies of the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany the Netherlands and Norway issued an “Urgent Call for Peace” deploring the violence in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State and increased tensions among national politicians Ruffle spoke from the insights of Anglican churches in South Sudan to call for attention on subnational violence, including widespread violence against women and girls. The mediation work done by churches was highlighted and a plea was made for South Sudanese politicians to work with the South Sudan Council of Churches on dialogue to reduce tensions. Alongside this, he called for renewed commitment by politicians to South Sudan’s revitalized peace process, which will enable security reform and help diffuse tensions among the national elite. This echoes calls made by Pope Francis, former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and the Rt. Rev. Iain Greenshields, former moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, to South Sudanese political leaders during their Pilgrimage of Peace in 2023. Ruffle also emphasized the suffering experienced by many women and girls across South Sudan and the need for more reliable prosecution of violence against them as well as the need for investment in microfinance and literacy opportunities — like those offered by the Mothers’ Union — recognizing women and girls’ equal value with men and boys. Ruffle said, “It is important that we encourage South Sudan’s politicians to be serious in engaging with the peace process, and that we keep highlighting the immense suffering and violence to stop South Sudan slipping from the world’s radar.” Since 2013, South Sudan has experienced cycles of civil war, which are estimated to have taken the lives of over 400,000 people and displaced millions from their homes. In 2018, politicians signed a revitalized peace agreement which set a course for a transitional government, united army and elections. The agreement holds and progress is being made, but significant reforms are years behind schedule and violence outside the capital has continued. Recent clashes inside Juba’s political elite have raised concerns that the agreement may be in greater danger. The Anglican Communion’s U.N. advocacy team has urged people to pray with all South Sudanese Christians that the agreement holds. The full text of Ruffle’s statement is available here.

Media accreditation is now open for the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee, which will convene in Johannesburg, South Africa, 18 – 24 June. Media accreditation is mandatory for access to open sessions, press conferences, briefings, and seminars – onsite, as well as online.