Latest News

  [Episcopal News Service] Many medical agencies, organizations and facilities recognize substance and alcohol addictions as chronic diseases, but stigma keeps many people from seeking treatment. St. Mary Anne’s Episcopal Church in North East, Maryland, is working to reduce the stigma through its recovery ministry. Like many churches, St. Mary Anne’s, which is in the Diocese of Easton, hosts several recovery support group meetings, including Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon and Narcotics Anonymous, throughout the week. The heart of St. Mary Anne’s ministry, though, is its monthly Faith and Recovery Service. A special evening Eucharist is held the second Sunday of each month for people in recovery, their loved ones and parishioners who wish to attend. “The challenge with churches who host any kind of 12-step group is getting them from, as I like to call it, the church basement into the church proper itself,” the Rev. John Schaeffer, St. Mary Anne’s rector, told Episcopal News Service. “It can be difficult establishing a deeper relationship with these groups and extending welcome into the church. We want them to know they have a whole congregation supporting their recovery process.” For Schaeffer, who’s been rector of St. Mary Anne’s since 2016, building connections with people in recovery, and helping them along their journey, is personal. When his father, an alcoholic, was alive, Schaeffer accompanied him to weekly AA meetings. “That’s where I learned so many of the stories of these people, and they truly wanted to get better and to be able to get their lives back in order again,” Schaeffer said. “They really benefit from community support.” The recovery worship service is informal and simpler than a traditional Eucharist. Schaeffer wears street clothes rather than vestments, and he uses a card table in the nave’s aisle instead of the altar. Communion is offered with grape juice instead of wine. The liturgy incorporates the 12 steps, the roadmap to recovery in AA and NA, into the Kenyan Eucharist Rite II. The Anglican Church of Kenya’s Eucharist emphasizes joy and community over atonement. The service’s highlight, though, is that Schaeffer doesn’t preach. Instead, individuals in recovery share their stories and reflect on their recovery journey, with no time limit. “Everyone’s journey is different – and some people’s stories are horrific – but what comes out of it is the light when they realize that they can overcome things with help and with guidance and with counselors and with true faith in themselves,” Schaeffer said. “From the first step all the way to the last step, recovery is a roller coaster. … It’s truly a wonderful thing to see someone persevere.” After every recovery service, the community shares a meal in the parish hall, a time for fellowship. Some people stay for the nightly NA meeting. Since the church offered its first recovery worship service in 2018, many attendees have been baptized and begun joining regular weekly worship services. Some couples have gotten married at a recovery service. Beyond the monthly service, some have turned to Schaeffer for individual pastoral care. Families have trusted him to hold funeral services for their loved ones who died by addiction. “The recovery community is a true part of our wider church community,” Schaeffer said. “We’re all equally part of God’s family and the body of Christ – his hands and feet.” Many of the people who regularly attend the recovery service and voluntarily serve St. Mary Anne’s other outreach ministries, including its food pantry, are guests and alumni of the church’s partner recovery houses; Dexter House for men and Charlotte House for women. The houses offer peer support, family support and living spaces for up to eight residents per house.  “When [Schaeffer] came up with the idea to do the recovery service, it connected us to the church in a way that I don’t think would have ever happened,” Tricia Jones, co-manager of Dexter and Charlotte Houses, told ENS. “It helped us in our mission to show people that recovery works. The parishioners started to interact with our people, and we saw relationships start to form where it just would have never happened under any other circumstances.” St. Mary Anne’s parishioners and the recovery house residents and alumni are now friends outside of church and volunteering environments, including on social media, Jones said. If someone is moving into a new home, for example, help is a call away. Many people in the recovery community also look forward to volunteering at St. Mary Anne’s annual Garden Market, a two-day garden and arts and crafts festival that attracts thousands of visitors. The mutual relationship and support are never-ending, even for those who’ve been clean or sober for many years. “We’re seeing a lot more support and encouragement on both sides,” Jones said. “The congregation is older and the recovery community skews younger, but this unusual partnership started to tie more people to the church. They may or may not believe in God, and some are maybe angry with God, and the most difficult part of recovery, I think, is the spiritual piece. “It’s very difficult to overcome some of the barriers in recovery because there’s a lot of trauma that happens with addiction. … Giving the recovery community an extra place – the church – where they know they will never be judged is a very positive thing.” Schaeffer will retire at the end of June and move to Pennsylvania. He and Jones both stressed, however, that the church’s recovery ministry and relationship with Dexter and Charlotte House and North East’s recovery community will continue “as long as possible.” “Everyone at St. Mary Anne’s has really embraced this ministry, and I hope it serves as a role model for other churches to begin an active relationship with their recovery communities,” Schaeffer. “It can physically and spiritually be lifesaving.”  If you are struggling with drug or alcohol addiction, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s free and confidential helpline at any time […]

The World Council of Churches hosted an online meeting of ecumenical communicators on 22 June to offer an opportunity to share updates on work, challenges, and hopes in the coming months. 

ACT Alliance members, the Lutheran World Federation, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, and Swiss Church Aid HEKS/EPER, have issued an alert related to earthquake response in Venezuela. 

Preparations under way for the Centenary of Faith and Order in 2027.  The First World Conference on Faith and Order was held in Lausanne in August 1927 and this historic gathering was the theological catalyst that later led to the official formation of the WCC in 1948.

Representatives from the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 23 June to share visions, commitments, and insights about many issues and topics. 

From Capitol Hill to Chicago, a message from American Bahá’ís invites conversations on spiritual renewal, social trust, and the nation’s future.

[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Church’s Washington, D.C.-based Office of Government Relations issued a statement on behalf of the church June 25 lamenting the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Trump administration in its attempt to restrict asylum-seekers’ entry into the country. The statement also took issue with a separate Supreme Court ruling allowing the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and Syrians. Both cases were decided, 6-3, in rulings endorsed by the court’s conservative supermajority and opposed by the court’s three liberal justices. “We recognize that the full consequences of these rulings are still uncertain and will depend on how the administration implements them, how agencies exercise discretion, and whether further legal challenges or congressional action follow,” the church statement said. Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe and House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris were among a long list of ecumenical and interfaith leaders who signed a legal brief in support of the lawsuit related to asylum-seekers. It was filed by Al Otro Lado, a California-based organization that supports refugees and migrants. The class-action lawsuit sought to end the Department of Homeland Security’s practice of turning away asylum-seekers at the border based on criteria that, opponents say, do not follow U.S. immigration law. The church also has been vocal in the past in its support of Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, a program by which the executive branch can protect certain foreign nationals from deportation if they would risk harm from war, violence, natural disasters or other threats to safety upon returning to their home countries. The following is the text of the church statement released June 25. The Episcopal Church laments the Supreme Court’s June 25 ruling in Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, which held that asylum seekers who are stopped before physically crossing into U.S. territory have not “arrived” in the United States for purpose of claiming asylum. This decision could mean that those who are fleeing persecution, and who historically have had the right to claim asylum at ports of entry, will not be able to do so. As a result, we fear that vulnerable people will be turned away, and that our nation’s pledge to provide protection for those fleeing persecution will be eroded. As we stated in the amicus brief signed by our presiding bishop the Most Rev. Sean W. Rowe, and House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris: “The Government’s theory that it can bar asylum seekers from lawfully crossing the U.S. border at a port of entry—without an opportunity to seek asylum, even if they are entitled to it—rejects our civilization’s heritage and our religious and moral obligations to offer persecuted strangers a place of safety.”  We also regret the Supreme Court ruling in Mullin v. Doe, which cleared the way for the administration to terminate Temporary Protected Status for many Haitians and Syrians who have been able to live and work legally in the United States during a time of great instability in their home countries. This means that families who have built their lives, raised children, worshiped, worked, and contributed to their communities in the United States may now face the loss of work authorization and protection from deportation, and may need to return to countries still marked by violence, instability, or humanitarian crisis. We recognize that the full consequences of these rulings are still uncertain and will depend on how the administration implements them, how agencies exercise discretion, and whether further legal challenges or congressional action follow. The Episcopal Church will continue supporting immigrants and asylum seekers in all of our ministries. We will advocate for laws and policies that center welcome, protection from harm, and integration. The Episcopal Church is a home to immigrants, and Episcopalians across the country and around the world continue to minister to and walk alongside migrants in need. We will continue to uphold the dignity of refugees and migrants following the biblical call to welcome the stranger.

UPDATE: All Episcopalians in the Diocese of Venezuela are accounted for and safe, according to Pragedes Coromoto Jiménez de Salazar, the diocese’s communications director and secretary of the diocesan standing committee and diocesan convention. The diocesan center and the Iglesia Anglicana Episcopal La Reconciliación, both in Caracas, have sustained minor damage. [Episcopal News Service] Episcopal and Anglican leaders are calling for prayers and offering support after back-to-back major earthquakes in Venezuela killed more than 900 people and injured at least 3,000 others while causing widespread damages to buildings and structures. Hundreds of people remained trapped under rubble as of June 25. “We pray for the Venezuelan people, asking for God’s protection and safety over every life, every family and every community,” Central Ecuador Bishop Juan Carlos Quiñonez Mera said in a June 24 Facebook post. “May the Lord bring peace, comfort and calm to their hearts amidst the circumstances they are facing.” The 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck Venezuela near Caracas, the capital, 39 seconds apart on June 24. Maiquetía “Simón Bolívar” International Airport was severely damaged and closed indefinitely. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez has declared a state of emergency. Episcopal Relief & Development has been communicating with partners in Venezuela who are responding to on-the-ground recovery efforts, according to its website. The Diocese of Venezuela, which is part of The Episcopal Church’s Province IX, has nine clergy serving 15 organized missions throughout the South American country’s 23 states. Litoral Ecuador Bishop Cristóbal Olmedo León Lozano serves as the provisional bishop of Venezuela. ENS attempted to reach Lozano by WhatsApp, and coverage of the disaster will be updated upon receiving a response. Quiñonez Mera said in his Facebook post that Lozano has called for prayers for Venezuela. Church leaders have been communicating with Lozano and Episcopalians in Venezuela to assess their immediate and long-term needs, according to the Rev. David Ulloa Chavez, The Episcopal Church’s partnership officer for Latin America and the Caribbean. “We are thankful that Episcopal Relief & Development is assessing needs in order assist with a humanitarian response,” Chavez told ENS in an email. “We join with Episcopalians and our ecumenical partners in the region as together we all pray for Venezuela.” The earthquakes also struck less than six months after the U.S. military attacked Venezuela and removed President Nicolás Maduro from office to face criminal charges in the United States. While in office, Maduro was accused of human rights abuses and other violations. Venezuela also has been facing an economic crisis for more than a decade. Dozens of countries, including the United States, have offered financial and recovery assistance after the earthquakes. Search-and-rescue teams have been deployed to Venezuela to support relief efforts. Other Episcopal bishops from Latin America have offered their prayers and support for Venezuela. “On behalf of the Diocese of Puerto Rico, I wish to express our love, solidarity and prayers to our Venezuelan brothers and sisters – particularly to the Diocese of Venezuela, Bishop Cristóbal and everyone there,” Puerto Rico Bishop Rafael Morales Maldonado said in a June 24 Facebook post. “Venezuela has a strong soul. God and we are with you!” In a June 25 Facebook post, Dominican Republic Bishop Moisés Quezada Mota highlighted his Caribbean diocese’s historically close relationship with the Diocese of Venezuela: “The Dominican Episcopal Church expresses its solidarity and shares in the grief weighing upon [Venezuela] and its diocese,” he said. “We are also praying that God grants you the strength and courage to face the days ahead.” Several bishops in the United States also offered prayers on social media. Los Angeles Bishop John Harvey Taylor called for additional prayers for the family of Los Angeles Bishop-elect Antonio Gallardo, who is from Venezuela. Gallardo still has family, including his mother, siblings and cousins, living there. “Almighty God, we lift our prayers to you for the people of Venezuela, especially those mourning loved ones, those trapped, injured or otherwise in danger,” Taylor said in a June 25 Facebook post. Gallardo is scheduled to be ordained and consecrated as the Los Angeles bishop diocesan on July 11. The Anglican Communion also offered prayers for Venezuela and the Diocese of Venezuela in a June 25 Facebook post, as well as gratitude for “emergency responders, medical teams, local authorities, churches and community organizations offering help, shelter and care as survivors continue to be found in the rubble”: “God of mercy, draw near to all who are afraid, grieving or facing uncertainty. Strengthen those who are in positions of leadership or responding with courage and compassion. Protect those still in danger, comfort those who mourn and guide all who work to bring relief, healing and hope.” -Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at [email protected].

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay extended prayers on behalf of the global fellowship to all those affected by two major earthquakes in Venezuela. 

The United Methodist Church’s University Senate has removed Asbury Theological Seminary and Northeastern Seminary from its list of schools that can prepare students for ordination.