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For more than 20 years, hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers from Myanmar have lived inside Thailand along the Thai-Myanmar border—next to their country yet far from their homes. Below are first-hand testimonials of participants in our youth empowerment project along the border. Htet Lin Thu: Educating and Empowering Migrant Youth My name is Htet Lin Thu, and I am ... Read More

The Central Atlantic Conference of the United Church of Christ is among more than two dozen religious groups suing the Department of Homeland Security in response to a policy change that offers greater leeway for immigration enforcement in “sensitive locations,”…

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A webinar on 13 February brought together people from different traditions to reflect on how a shared celebration of Easter can unite Christians worldwide in their common faith in the resurrected Christ.

Thursday, February 20, 2 PM to 3 PM US ET Join Live via Zoom or Facebook Zoom registration is required but complimentary. Please click here to register.

Following is an adapted version of an interview by Vatican media with World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay.

Illustration for Luke 6:31 is available to download and share on social media.

[Episcopal News Service] After almost 45 years of ordained ministry, New York Assistant Bishop Mary Glasspool will retire this summer. Her last day will be June 30. “Even at the most challenging of times, it is a huge privilege to be a bishop in this church, and not a day goes by that I don’t thank God for it,” Glasspool wrote in a Feb. 7 letter to the diocese. Glasspool made history in 2009 when she was elected bishop suffragan of the Diocese of Los Angeles, becoming the second openly gay – and first lesbian – bishop in the Anglican Communion. In 2015, she moved to the Diocese of New York. Glasspool and her wife, Becki Sander, have been together 38 years. Glasspool was born on Staten Island when her father was the rector jointly of All Saints Church and St. Simon’s Church. She grew up in Goshen, New York, after her father became the rector of St. James Church. In 1981, Glasspool earned her Master of Divinity degree from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was ordained a deacon. The following year, she was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Pennsylvania, where she served as assistant to the rector and later interim priest-in-charge of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. Glasspool moved to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1984 to serve as rector of St. Luke’s and St. Margaret’s Church. In 1992, she moved to the Diocese of Maryland to serve as rector of St. Margaret’s Church in Annapolis, where she remained until 2001, when she became the diocese’s canon to the bishop until 2009. “The time has come when … I need to put aside the mitre and crozier, take a long break, and just waste some time with God,” Glasspool said in the letter. She also said she and Sander plan to stay in the New York area and spend the second half of 2025 traveling, resting and discerning “what God has in store for us in the next chapter of our lives.” Glasspool said she will continue her normal duties in the coming months, including attending the House of Bishops’ gathering in March at Camp McDowell in Alabama. She also will assist with the transition in leadership over areas she oversees, including global mission, reparations, ecumenical and interreligious life, social concerns commissions and college chaplains in the Diocese of New York. Glasspool said she’s working with New York Bishop Matthew F. Heyd and Bishop Suffragan Allen K. Shin to “establish clear boundaries” that allow her to continue working with the Interfaith Center of New York, as bishop visitor of the Community of Saint John Baptist and with the Anglican Diocese of Cuernavaca in Mexico. “It won’t be perfect, but I’ll do the very best I can to honor and support the ongoing life of the Episcopal Diocese of New York and my own life, as God has given it to me,” Glasspool said. The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York will host a diocesan celebration of Glasspool’s episcopate on May 31.

[Episcopal News Service] As the new Trump administration leads public and private entities to remove calendared holidays and observances commemorating the contributions of people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people and people with disabilities, Episcopal leaders are reflecting on how the wider church can ensure that those Americans are never erased from the public’s consciousness. “This decision to pause Black History Month celebrations and DEI work puts us in a profound moment to reflect out loud what as a church – as a people – do we choose to remember and choose to forget?” the Rev. Lester V. Mackenzie, The Episcopal Church’s chief of mission program, told Episcopal News Service. He also leads the church’s Department of Ethnic Ministries, which includes the Offices of African Descent Ministries, Asiamerica Ministries, Indigenous Ministries and Latino/Hispanic Ministries. “Too often, institutions, including our own, have been complicit and slow to act … so how are we adjusting to what is unfolding socially in our dioceses, or in our congregations and local ministries?” February is Black History Month, the annual acknowledgment of Black Americans’ accomplishments and contributions to the making of the United States. Celebrations are underway in the church, including worship services commemorating the feast of the Rev. Absalom Jones, the first Black Episcopal priest. Jones stands among the Rev. Pauli Murray, Thurgood Marshall, King Kamehameha and Queen Emma of Hawai‘i, Enmegahbowh and many other clergy and activists of color on The Episcopal Church’s calendar of Lesser Feasts and Fasts. Some congregations, such as St. James’ Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas, are hosting Black History Month events throughout February, including workshops and lectures. Washington National Cathedral is also hosting several events, including a special worship service on Feb. 16 honoring historically Black colleges and universities. Commemorations and events are necessary, and so is the need to educate younger generations about why they are necessary, the Rev. Ellis Clifton, rector of St. Mary the Virgin Episcopal Church in Virgin Gorda, Diocese of the Virgin Islands, told ENS. “We’ve spent all these years celebrating what our predecessors accomplished, but we forgot to teach what caused the need for these celebrations – their work and struggles – and how the benefits that we have came about,” said Ellis, who sits on the church’s African Descent Ministries’ council of advice and previously served as the Midwest regional director of the Union of Black Episcopalians. At the federal level, the government’s emphasis on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion dates back at least to 1961, when President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating based on race. And after 15 years of activism following the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., President Ronald Reagan signed a law in 1983 designating the third Monday in January as a federal holiday to honor the civil rights leader’s life. Last month, in his first hours back in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning DEI initiatives, prompting federal agencies and now some private corporations to discontinue commemorating certain holidays and observances: Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Holocaust Day and Days of Remembrance, Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Pride Month, Juneteenth, Women’s Equality Day, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National Disability Employment Awareness Month and National American Indian Heritage Month. The president didn’t officially call for the erasure of cultural observances, though federal agencies interpreted the executive order as such and sent memos calling on staff to pause them. On Feb. 11, Google removed Black History Month and other cultural observances from its calendar, saying that maintaining those references was not “sustainable.” Last week, Julia Ayala Harris, president of The Episcopal Church’s House of Deputies, released a statement of solidarity and standing up for marginalized groups: “Like the psalms of lament that turn to praise, Dr. [Pauli] Murray understood that hope is not passive optimism, but an act of holy defiance, a declaration that the struggle for justice is worth enduring,” Ayala Harris said in the Feb. 6 statement. “Their life reminds us that we are called not simply to lament the injustices of the world but to act — to sing our own songs of hope in a weary time, to advocate, to organize, to protect, and to uplift.” The Deputies of Color also released a statement broadly condemning Trump’s executive orders: “We must address how these policies impact vulnerable populations and stand against the injustices they face. In doing so, we honor our commitment to serve God through serving our neighbors.” A nationwide surge in interest in diversity, equity and inclusion, including by employers, paralleled the calls for racial justice after the death of George Floyd in May 2020. That year, Episcopal Church leaders encouraged Episcopalians to observe Juneteenth – the anniversary of June 19, 1865, when in Galveston, Texas, the last formerly enslaved people learned they had been freed. A year later, in 2021, President Joe Biden signed legislation making Juneteenth a federal holiday to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. Since then, more churches have participated in Juneteenth events every year. Episcopalians also observe notable events in history that aren’t official U.S. observances. This month, for example, St. Peter’s Episcopal Parish, a historically Japanese church in Seattle, Washington, marked the 83rd anniversary of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s executive order to authorize the incarceration of Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War II. Some 45 years later, the United States officially apologized for the unjust incarceration, damages and post-war discrimination, and offered restitution to survivors.  There’s a long history of discrimination against Asians in the United States. For people of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage, removing the observances of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month obscures both the accomplishments and the challenges that still exist today, said the Rev. Jo Ann Lagman, the church’s Asiamerica Ministries missioner. AAPI communities are “incredibly diverse,” Lagman said. For example, the life experiences of the Hmong and […]

[Episcopal News Service] The Church of England’s General Synod is meeting in London this week for the first time since the resignation last month of former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. On a separate track, the process for selecting Welby’s successor is advancing and eventually will involve both England’s prime minister and King Charles III. Welby, who first took office in 2013, stepped down Jan. 6 under pressure over his handling of a sprawling abuse scandal in the church. The archbishop of Canterbury is both a diocesan leader and the primate of the Church of England, and the position also traditionally has been seen as a “focus of unity” for the 42 worldwide Anglican provinces, including The Episcopal Church. Until a new archbishop is chosen, Welby’s former duties are being delegated to other Church of England leaders, with Archbishop of York Steven Cottrell filling most of the position’s responsibilities as head of the church. Cottrell, though, is also facing criticism over a separate, unrelated abuse case. He is accused of allowing a priest to remain in his post despite the priest being accused of sexual abuse involving two girls. On the first day of General Synod, Feb. 10, a lay member forced a vote seeking to block Cottrell from giving his opening address to the church’s governing body. That proposal was overwhelmingly defeated, and Cottrell spoke for about 20 minutes, acknowledging the “difficult and challenging times” facing the church. “I believe in and love the Church of England,” Cottrell said. “However, I am deeply, deeply mindful of the feelings of anguish, anger, sadness and regret present in this chamber, not least among victims and survivors of abuse and those who valiantly support them, but also among women in our church who are still victims of discrimination, unwanted touch and, at times, even sexual assault.” In addition to those “safe church” issues, the Church of England’s efforts in recent years to offer greater welcome to LGBTQ+ people have fueled tensions within the church and the wider Anglican Communion, a network of autonomous, interdependent provinces with historical ties to the Church of England. The position of the archbishop of Canterbury is one of four designated “Instruments of Communion” serving all Anglican provinces.  The other three are the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops, the Primates’ Meeting and the Anglican Consultative Council, or ACC. Conservative leaders of some provinces in what is known as the Global South, mostly Africa, Asia and South America, have objected to greater LGBTQ+ inclusion, particularly same-sex marriage and blessings in some provinces, including the Church of England and The Episcopal Church. In February 2023, those Global South leaders demanded changes to the archbishop of Canterbury’s leadership role in the communion, following that month’s triennial meeting of the ACC. At the ACC’s meeting in Ghana, members from 38 provinces approved a resolution on “good differentiation” that endorsed efforts “to explore theological questions regarding structure and decision-making to help address our differences in the Anglican Communion.” The Anglican body assigned to discuss those questions released its latest draft report in December 2024 proposing two key changes: The Anglican Communion’s membership would be defined as all provinces with “historical connection” to the See of Canterbury, rather than being “in communion” with that office. And the archbishop of Canterbury would no longer be the ACC president, the presidency instead rotating among leaders from the communion’s five regions. The ACC is expected to take up the proposals when it meets next in February 2026 in Northern Ireland. The process for selecting a new archbishop of Canterbury, meanwhile, is proceeding on its own schedule, and all Episcopalians and Anglicans worldwide have been invited to provide input. “We want to hear from you,” the Church of England says in an invitation on its website. Those interested in giving their input are asked to complete an online form by March 28. “Whether you are based in England or anywhere in the Anglican Communion, your views matter. This consultation invites you to share your thoughts on what qualities, values, and vision the future archbishop should embody.” Unlike The Episcopal Church, which is governed independently by its General Convention, the Church of England’s governance is intertwined with the British government. “Absolute discretion” for appointing the archbishop of Canterbury is given to the British monarch, who is also supreme governor of the church. However, since 1976 church leaders have had a more direct voice in choosing the next archbishop of Canterbury through a body known as the Crown Nominations Commission. The process “is likely to take several months,” according to a Parliament website explaining the steps in electing a new archbishop of Canterbury. The Crown Nominations Commission has 17 voting members and is chaired by a lay leader appointed by the prime minister. Three lay and three clergy members of General Synod serve on the commission, as well as three representatives of the Diocese of Canterbury. The commission also includes one member from each of the Anglican Communion’s five global regions. The other two voting members are the archbishop of York and an additional bishop elected by the House of Bishops. Nonvoting members include the prime minister’s appointments secretary and the secretary general of the Anglican Communion. The commission interviews candidates, and then two-thirds of the commission must agree on a nomination for it to advance. The nominee’s name is presented to the prime minister, currently Keir Starmer, who then confirms that the nominee is willing to serve as archbishop of Canterbury. Once the prime minister accepts a nominee, that person is recommend to the king, who grants a license for Canterbury Cathedral’s College of Canons to elect the archbishop of Canterbury. After that election, the king assents to the result of the election, and the new archbishop of Canterbury officially takes office at a Confirmation of Election ceremony held at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. A separate installation service is held later at Canterbury Cathedral. – David Paulsen is a […]

The Germany Central Conference elected the 57-year-old district superintendent on the seventh ballot.