Episcopal News Service

[Anglican Communion News Service] Bishop Anthony Poggo, secretary-general of the Anglican Communion, on May 8 shared a message of encouragement on the election of Pope Leo XIV. The statement reads: With great joy, we welcome the election and appointment of Pope Leo XIV, the 267th Pope and Bishop of Rome. On behalf of the worldwide Anglican Communion, we share our prayers, celebration and encouragement as His Holiness takes up his global ministry in service of the Church. May he lead with faithfulness, vision and courage, embodying the Christian values of peace and justice in service of mission and evangelisation. At this point in history, the world and the Church face significant challenges. Crises of mass migration, war, poverty and division press upon us all. As ever, the most innocent and vulnerable in our societies suffer most severely. We welcome Pope Leo’s commitment to building bridges through dialogue, and his summons to all the faithful to visible unity without fear. The Anglican Communion remains committed to our collaboration with the Catholic Church in the friendship of Jesus, sustained by our formal ecumenical institutions and the pioneering ministry of the Anglican Centre in Rome. The Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) and the International Anglican–Roman Catholic Commission on Unity and Mission (IARCCUM) help us to think and grow together. Anglicans and Roman Catholics look to these commissions — and the friendships that they enable —  in the spirit of Saint Augustine’s summons to the Communion of Love, founded in the whole Christ. We pray that God will grant Pope Leo the strength to lead wisely and we assure him of our open arms in return. May we meet the Lord together again, as he comes to us and bids us not to be afraid (John 6:20). Amen

[Religion News Service] In a shocking vote that caught the Catholic world by surprise, the College of Cardinals elected Robert Francis Prevost, 69, the 267th pope on May 8. He is the first United States citizen to become the bishop of Rome. The Chicago-born Prevost has chosen to take the name Pope Leo XIV, signaling a kinship with the 19th-century Pope Leo XIII, who was known for opening the doors of the church to the world and made Catholic social teaching a central issue during his pontificate. As he walked out of the loggia onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to greet the cheering crowd in the square below, the new pope said, “Peace be with you all!” Remembering the Easter season being celebrated in the church, he added, “I would like this greeting of peace to reach all people, in the entire world.” At his mention of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who died April 21, the crowd roared, and the new pope reminded them: “We are all in the hands of God. Hence, without fear, united hand in hand with God and with each other, we go forward. We are disciples of Christ. Christ precedes us!” An Illinois native, he graduated from Villanova University and Catholic Theological Union but has spent much of his career outside the U.S., having served from 2015-2023 as the archbishop of Chiclayo in Peru, where he also holds citizenship. Prevost has faced criticism from the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, for allegedly mishandling abuse complaints regarding priests in Chicago and Peru, but his supporters have pushed back against the allegations. Francis brought him to Rome to serve as president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, as well as the head of the Dicastery for Bishops — a powerful Vatican office that vets bishops around the world. Francis elevated him to cardinal in September 2023. Two years later, Francis made him a cardinal-bishop, the highest rank among cardinals. He has kept a low profile in Rome, making his views on hot-button issues something of a mystery. But in a rare interview with Vatican News, he painted the picture of a church leader who “must not hide behind an idea of authority that no longer makes sense today. The authority we have is to serve, to accompany priests, to be pastors and teachers.” In that same interview, he said that prelates are often “preoccupied with teaching doctrine,” at the risk of forgetting the message of the gospels. The quickness of his election demonstrates a unity among the cardinals who have been portrayed as a polarized group as they headed into the conclave, and in recent decades as Francis’ style produced strong reactions, especially from conservative churchmen. But in a College of Cardinals of which 80% had been elevated by Francis and inspired by his message of welcoming and inclusion, the choice of a progressive such as Prevost may have been anticipated. Prevost himself spoke of the divisions in the church in his Vatican News interview, saying, “We bishops especially must accelerate this movement towards unity, towards communion in the church.” Prevost may have played a role in the sidelining of U.S. Bishop Joseph Strickland, who had become notorious for his resistance to COVID-19 vaccines and sharp criticism of the pope. In 2023, Prevost met with Pope Francis and Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio, or ambassador, to the United States, and speculation was that the conversation centered on the process of asking for the resignation of the bishop. Strickland, who has garnered a following among some right-wing Catholics in the U.S., told Religion News Service he would not retire voluntarily, but he was removed from his post roughly two months later. This is a breaking story and will be updated.

[Episcopal News Service] An Episcopal congregation that serves seasonal farmworkers in southeast North Carolina has a new church building thanks to the hard work of church members who built it themselves. It’s the first building for Iglesia Episcopal La Sagrada Familia – the Episcopal Church of the Holy Family – since its ministry began there 29 years ago. “There aren’t that many new buildings being built in The Episcopal Church,” the Rev. Fred Clarkson, the congregation’s priest-in-charge, told Episcopal News Service, let alone one constructed by the people it serves. Its presence “has brought a sense of hope to people.” The farmworkers received various gifts from individuals and the Diocese of East Carolina, of which the church is a part, Clarkson said. East Carolina Bishop Rob Skirving will preside at the church’s dedication and consecration on May 10. The church is part of the Episcopal Farmworker Ministry, a joint effort of the dioceses of North Carolina and East Carolina, that since 1978 has served farmworkers who come to the region for six to nine months a year on U.S. government-issued H-2A visas. Seasonal workers and immigrants who live in the area year-round mostly work in fields harvesting sweet potatoes or tobacco, or in turkey- or pork-processing plants. Construction of the new church building began in June 2023. Previously, the congregation met in a nearby open-air pavilion owned by the Farmworker Ministry. The church now has an average Sunday attendance between 80 and 100, and most who attend are young. “Our average age is probably in their 30s,” Clarkson said. “We’re one of the younger, if not the youngest, parish in terms of age in our diocese.” The dioceses’ religious outreach to farmworkers began in 1996, and the Spanish-speaking congregation includes second- and third-generation farmworkers and their children who continue to live and work in the area, as well as generations of seasonal workers, said Clarkson, who also is the East Carolina diocese’s Spanish-language ministry coordinator. In addition to the church, the Episcopal Farmworker Ministry provides a variety of assistance to area laborers. “There are over 8,000 workers who come during the season,” Mauricio Chenlo, the ministry’s executive director, told ENS. Those who are in the United States on H-2A visas are provided with housing, as required by U.S. law, and most of that is in camps, he said. Because mattresses often are worn out, the ministry buys those in bulk and distributes as many as it can. It also provides recreational activities on Sundays – the one day that workers have off – and a warehouse stocks items, including clothing and hygiene kits, that workers may need. Ministry staff and volunteers visit camps to educate farmworkers about their employment rights. This includes making sure employers don’t withhold Social Security taxes from their paychecks, since federal law prohibits H-2A visa farmworkers from collecting Social Security benefits. Some of the young, mostly male farmworkers suffer from alcohol or substance abuse, Chenlo said. “Imagine you’re coming from a little town in Mexico, and you’re in the middle of the fields for nine months,” he said. “It’s really tough in terms of emotional displacement.” A wellness initiative is available to them and other workers needing help with mental health issues. Other services are also open to immigrants who live in the area year-round, including a monthly food distribution that usually draws 500 – 600 people. Volunteers from area Episcopal churches help with setting up fresh produce, canned and boxed goods in the pavilion so people can shop for what they need. There are also twice-weekly English-as-a-second-language classes offered through the local community college. A former midwife offers a support program for pregnant women and new mothers, and a sewing class for women now has beginner and advanced tracks. Many of the area’s immigrants are undocumented, Chenlo added, so immigration clinics are offered by a Raleigh law firm that donates its services. Concerns about immigration are top-of-mind for the Rev. Cuyler O’Connor, a deacon in the Diocese of North Carolina who is a member of the Episcopal Farmworkers Ministry board. They have been trying to track activity in the region around immigration, he told ENS, but like many organizations, the board struggles with accurate information. “There are constant changes from the current administration that we have to manage,” he said. Rumors of the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the area prompted cancellation of the food distribution in February, Chenlo said, because people were too scared to be out in public. Half the usual number did come in March, but he continues to see fewer people in stores or restaurants. Clarkson believes the government has a vested interest in keeping area farms and processing plants operating, so he doesn’t think the H-2A visa program will be part of any orders barring migrants into the U.S. “You don’t want food supplies to be affected in any way, right?” he asked. Recalling empty store shelves caused by supply chain disruptions during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, “Stuff like that freaks the government out.” The area’s economy also depends on these workers, Chenlo added. In addition to getting crops harvested and much of the nation’s turkey and pork processed, “they consume things, they buy gas, they buy groceries.” Clarkson is thankful that fear hasn’t kept church members away from services at Iglesia Episcopal Sagrada Familia, but he acknowledges that anti-immigrant sentiment could cause some people in the community to treat his church members disrespectfully. But even on those occasions, he believes the church still can help. “It’s an opportunity to remind the people who feel they’re threatened or disrespected that there are people who still respect them, people who still love them, and that there’s still goodness,” he said. “While politicians like to divide, I think it’s always the church’s task to connect and build bridges and heal.” — Melodie Woerman is an Episcopal News Service freelance reporter based in Kansas.

[Episcopal News Service] To say this year has been a busy one for The Episcopal Church’s Washington, D.C.-based Office of Government Relations would be an understatement. With President Donald Trump taking office for a second term in January and quickly upending many of the legal, political and diplomatic norms of the nation and its capital city, the Office of Government Relations, following resolutions adopted by General Convention, is using an acronym to help focus its responses to the new administration’s actions: LEAP, or litigation, education, advocacy and prayer. Litigation includes the lawsuit filed by The Episcopal Church and its interfaith partners seeking to protect houses of worship from Trump administration immigration enforcement actions. To educate Episcopalians on other issues that matter to the church, the Office of Government Relations holds updates at 1 p.m. Eastern every Thursday on Zoom and partners with Episcopal Migration Ministries on a separate weekly update at 1 p.m. Eastern Tuesdays focused on immigration. The office’s advocacy in support of the church’s nonpartisan public policy positions combines meetings with elected officials with its churchwide mobilization of Episcopalians through the Episcopal Public Policy Network’s weekly action alerts. Even with such a broad range of engagement, the church can’t respond to every new development out of the White House and Congress. That’s where prayer comes in, said Rebecca Blachly, the church’s chief of public policy and witness. In March, the Office of Government Relations began releasing weekly prayers, usually numbering about a half dozen, focused on various issues of the week that might otherwise have fallen through the cracks. “We still wanted some way to respond” to those issues, Blachly told Episcopal News Service, “and we heard from Episcopalians that they were eager for us to respond.” The prayers are distributed by email every Friday and on social media. Anyone signed up for the Episcopal Public Policy Network’s action alerts also will receive the weekly prayer emails. The May 2 prayers focused on police and policing, Indigenous communities, coalition building and Yemen, as well as a “prayer for discernment in digesting online content.” “Most High God, your Son is the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” the latter prayer reads. “In his name, we raise to you our concerns about false, distorted, or fabricated information which is increasingly shared online and through official channels. Help us all to be wise consumers of information, and grant protection and healing to those who have been harmed by untrue posts. Amen.” Blachly and the staff of the Office of Government Relations decide on the prayers’ topics after discussing the top issues of the week, based partly on the feedback that office receives from its weekly webinars and Episcopal Public Policy Network members. The prayers aren’t intended to be a comprehensive series, though each weekly selection has been intentional and “specific enough that it was responding to the contemporary moment,” Blachly said. The office’s intern, Emily DeMarco, has taken the lead in writing the prayers. Often the purpose of the prayers is to “stand in solidarity with those who feel afraid or vulnerable or threatened” by Trump administration policies, particularly as it pursues an anti-immigrant and anti-transgender agenda, Blachly said. The Office of Government Relations, for example, heard a lot of concern from its networks about the National Park Service’s removal of Pauli Murray’s biography from its website. Murray, the first Black woman ordained a priest in The Episcopal Church, is also remembered as a trailblazer in the LGBTQ+ community. The Murray Family Home in Durham, North Carolina, is now a National Historic Landmark. Murray was celebrated in the first weekly prayers distributed by the Office of Government Relations, on March 14. “Holy God, you call each of us by name in the fullness of who You created us to be,” the prayer reads. “We join in the lament of our nonbinary and transgender siblings whose identities are being removed from government documents. We remember Pauli Murray, whom we celebrate with a feast day, and whose biography was deleted from a government website. Amen.” In inaugurating the weekly prayer series, the Office of Government Relations affirmed that the prayers “are not a replacement for action.” Rather, they “offer grounding and allow us space to discern what actions each of us may feel compelled to take.” The office continues to send separate weekly action alerts on the most pressing issues for church advocacy. The April 29 alert urged Episcopalians to contact members of Congress in support of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, commonly known as food stamps. The church has long advocated for robust government spending on SNAP as part of the Gospel call to alleviate poverty and hunger. Other recent action alerts have focused on federal investments in the environmental protection and advocating passage of the Religious Workforce Protection Act, which would ease legal residency restrictions on clergy from around the world who are serving congregations in the United States. The weekly prayers, meanwhile, are aligned with Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe’s vision for his newly created Division of Public Policy, Partnership and Witness, which Blachly leads. Prayer, she said, “is one way that we can offer public witness.” – David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

[Church of England] More than 11,000 people have participated in the consultations for the next archbishop of Canterbury – carried out online, by mail and in person between February and March this year. The public consultation was a unique opportunity to influence the future of leadership within the church, helping to discern the gifts, skills and qualities required in the 106th archbishop of Canterbury to meet the needs of the church today and in the years to come. The themes that emerge through this consultation will sit alongside the “Statement of Needs” produced by the Diocese of Canterbury, as well as other information provided by the national church and Anglican Communion. This information will inform the Canterbury Crown Nominations Commission of the needs of the mission of the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion. Here are some of the consultations at a glance: Secretaries’ consultations – the archbishops’ secretary for appointments and the Prime Minister’s appointments secretary met with over 350 individuals during the consultation period, including representatives of other Christian traditions and non-Christian traditions, parliamentarians, leaders from public life, and those who minister, work and worship across the Church of England and the Anglican Communion. Children and young people consultations – over 1,200 children and young people participated in consultations conducted by the National Society for Education and the appointments secretaries. Online public consultations – the online consultation form received over 9,600 responses. Written public consultations – over 160 pieces of written correspondence (e.g. emails and letters) were received. Read more about the process for selecting the next archbishop of Canterbury here.

[World Council of Churches]  In light of the recent escalation of violence following India’s military strikes on Pakistan, World Council of Churches general secretary the Rev. Jerry Pillay urged both nations to exercise restraint and to prioritize peace over further escalation. “We express deep concern for the welfare of the people of both India and Pakistan, and of the wider region, in the intensifying confrontation between the two nuclear-armed nations,” said Pillay. On April 22, five armed militants brutally killed 26 civilians near Pahalgam in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. “With the current retaliation by India and the response by Pakistan, many more civilians are being killed and injured,” Pillay said. “The pain of loss and the urgency of justice must not lead to further violence or suffering.” Read the entire article here.

[Episcopal News Service] April was a busy month at St. James Episcopal Church in Marietta, Georgia. First, the congregation stepped up its preparations for Holy Week and gathered all week for daily liturgies, culminating April 20 in Easter worship services attended by almost 600 people. Then, less than 24 hours later, a professional film crew arrived. Certain St. James facilities will be featured in an upcoming true crime limited series on Hulu about the notorious Murdaugh family murders. Some of the church’s halls and offices were transformed by the crew to depict the South Carolina law offices of Alex Murdaugh, who was convicted of killing his wife and son in 2021. A parishioner at St. James who works as a film location scout recommended the Episcopal church for the shoot, for which the congregation is receiving an undisclosed fee. An initial round of filming took place there in March, and at 5:30 a.m. April 21, the production crew returned for another weeklong shoot, according to Scott Smoot, the congregation’s communications coordinator. He told Episcopal News Service he was particularly impressed how the crew created the illusion of sun on otherwise gray days or before sunrise. “They needed bright sunshine, so they brought their own,” Smoot said. With reflective screens and powerful lights outside the office window, the production ensured enough artificial sun for the actors at work on an interior scene. “It was very convincing.” The Murdaugh murders occurred one state away, in South Carolina, but it is common for such scenes to be shot in Georgia. The state has become a major player in the American film industry thanks largely to state tax incentives and the growth of Atlanta-based studios. Marietta City Manager Bill Bruton told the Marietta Daily Journal that, in addition to the production at St. James, the city was expecting “a couple of other” productions to begin filming nearby in the coming month. In the Hulu series, Patricia Arquette was cast in one of the lead roles, as murder victim Maggie Murdaugh, according to Variety, while Jason Clarke is to portray Alex Murdaugh. It is based partly on the reporting of journalist Mandy Matney, who is also depicted as a character in the series. No public release date has been specified. Marietta is a city of about 60,000 residents located northwest of Atlanta. St. James, part of the Diocese of Atlanta, sits on a property roughly the size of a full city block. Railroad tracks run behind the church, which sometimes required the production to call “cut!” when the sound of trains passing interrupted a scene. The action in most scenes filmed at St. James was unrelated to the church’s more familiar parish functions – and no murders were depicted there – though the filmmakers also shot one funeral scene in a small chapel on the campus that dates to the 1840s. “It was really lots of fun for me to see the place full with actors,” Smoot said. To film the other scenes, the crew took over the church’s vestry conference room, parlor, foyer and hallways, which were crowded all week after Easter with cameras and actors, Smoot said. He and other members of St. James mostly stayed out of the way and watched from a distance. One exception was when the crew needed assistance opening a door to the church archives. That scene included a closeup of an actor’s hand on the doorknob. Church leaders also had to respond to “big excitement” when a stray bird flew into the church, disrupting the filming of one of the office scenes until the winged intruder could be removed. The presence of a film crew hasn’t interfered much with the church’s weekly routines, though the choir chose to cancel one of its rehearsals rather than navigate around all the film equipment and wires. The crew also brought its own furniture and other props, and between shoots, many of those set pieces remain in place. The crew expected to return for at least one more day, likely later this month, to get final footage at St. James. For now, a nameplate on one of the doors says “Murdaugh.” Bookshelves contain law books that never would be found in a church library. A trophy deer head hangs from a wall. Curtains were added to the windows to create the right atmosphere. “A lot of us have gotten used to the way things look now,” Smoot said. The production has offered to leave some of those window treatments behind for the church. It also will repaint and repair walls that were altered for scenes and will relandscape gardens outside the church where film equipment caused some damage. Overall, St. James parishioners have treated the film shoot as a harmless fascination that also has drawn attention to the church in local news stories, and the congregation is receiving financial compensation from the film company. Smoot declined to reveal how much, though he said the proceeds will help St. James pay for an undramatic but necessary church improvement: a new roof. – David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

[Episcopal News Service] There’s no excuse for food waste at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Gridley, California. Anything that’s not eaten right away or composted can be preserved, which has become an entertaining and tasty activity for the team of parishioners who teach free monthly food preservation classes, mostly using produce from the church’s community garden. “We want to be good stewards of what we’ve been given and share it with others. They, too, can be good stewards,” Kathy Mahannah, St. Timothy’s senior warden, told Episcopal News Service. “We grow the food; we eat. We preserve what we don’t eat right away, and we compost what we don’t eat all of and put it back into the garden. It’s a self-contained, full circle of creation care with no added transportation.” Mahannah is a certified master food preserver, as are her wife, Grace Mahannah, and Brianna Swanson, another instructor. The three started St. Timothy’s “Preserving Food with Friends” program in June 2024. In St. Timothy’s parish hall every first Saturday of the month, except December, they and other volunteers teach an element of food preservation – pickling, different types of canning, fermenting, dehydrating and more – using whatever cultivars, or plant varieties, are appropriate for preserving and in season.  “Everything we teach is seasonal. When it’s strawberry season, we’ll teach a strawberry jam class. In June, we’ll have cucumbers, so we’ll make pickles,” Swanson told ENS, adding the classes offer many benefits. “Students can connect with people and with orchards to glean free food, or they can pick up food from the community garden and know how to preserve what they’ve gathered.” Despite its tiny size – averaging about 15 people every Sunday for worship – St. Timothy’s congregation is impacting the community of about 7,000 residents with its food preservation classes. Even though Butte County, California, where Gridley is located, is a significant agricultural area, 14.6% of its residents – higher than the 12.6% statewide average – are experiencing food insecurity, according to the latest data from Feeding America. Food preservation techniques can help alleviate food insecurity by extending the shelf life of food, ensuring year-round access to food and reducing food waste while maintaining nutritional value. The three instructors emphasize food and kitchen hygiene and safety – including knife skills – in all their classes to prevent injury, foodborne illness, spoilage and waste. They explain the science behind why and how much of certain ingredients need to be added to specific recipes, and how to properly process preserved foods. For example, canned tomato products, like salsa, must have a certain amount of bottled lemon or lime juice, or vinegar with sufficient acidity, to kill and prevent the growth of harmful bacteria that cause botulism, which can be fatal. The instructors then lead a hands-on demonstration and answer questions throughout. Students can customize spices and seasonings to taste. “We teach you what to do and why you’re doing it. We teach about pathogens and what can be in your food if you don’t prepare it safely,” Kathy Mahannah said. “We want to make sure that after two hours of learning with us, people will go home with best practices and properly vetted recipes.” All materials are provided, and signup isn’t required. Class sizes average 20 people with some returning students. Children are also welcome to participate, with adult supervision. Students also get to enjoy free samples of whatever they’re learning to make. “When we gave samples of sauerkraut and pickled carrots the last time we taught fermented and pickled vegetables, everyone said, ‘this is the best sauerkraut I’ve ever had, and these are the best carrots I’ve ever had,’” Grace Mahannah said. Kathy and Grace Mahannah also are both master gardeners. Between July 2022 and November 2023, using a grant from the Episcopal Foundation of Northern California, they and other volunteers helped turn St. Timothy’s back lot into a community garden with 20 beds available to rent. Once a week, they host a community composting hub there, and St. Timothy’s recently installed a greenhouse to grow more vegetables year-round. Much of the garden’s produce is used for the food preservation classes. The rest is given away once a month to those in need.  Other financial donations are used to purchase canning jars, lids and bands, canning salt and other materials for the preservation classes. Nearby farmers donate additional materials and produce. One individual donated more than a year’s supply of pectin. “From a spiritual standpoint, I love the modeling of generosity in giving everything you know, and people are generous in return,” Grace Mahannah said. “It’s a generosity that we’re able to practice as Christians and also community – just being a good neighbor, being someone who is concerned about the community and whatever we can contribute to it.” The Mahannahs and Swanson said there’s been growing demand for low-sugar recipes. They began incorporating low-sugar options, including blueberry rhubarb jam with sugar-free pectin, in their classes beginning with the May 3 session, which covered fruit jams. Low-sugar recipes will also be offered during the pie filling class later this year. “We’re always looking for new and exciting recipes to try and teach our students,” Swanson said. She hopes to eventually teach a food preservation class to nearby 4-H clubs and Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts troops, who could use those skills to enter food competitions in the Butte County Fair in Gridley or the California State Fair in Sacramento, which is about 58 miles south of Gridley. Those children would be following in the footsteps of certified winners. Swanson, for one, took first and second place last year at the Butte County Fair with her pickles. The food preservation instructors said their favorite preserved foods are dehydrated mango, jams and escabeche – Mexican pickled vegetables. “It’s all delicious and really fun to make,” Grace Mahannah said. -Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can […]

[Episcopal News Service] The Rt. Rev. Anthony Ball was commissioned director of the Anglican Centre in Rome, Italy, during a midday May 6 Eucharist attended by some 50 ecumenical partners and friends in the center’s Chapel of St. Augustine of Canterbury. “Today, in remarkable and historic circumstances, we welcome enthusiastically and liturgically our new director,” said the Rt. Rev. Michael Burrows, chair of the center’s board of governors and bishop of Tuam, Limerick and Killaloe in the Church of Ireland, during his sermon. “We can’t, of course, as happened on the last similar occasion, combine this with an encounter between the occupants of the chairs of Peter and Augustine. That must wait.” It’s the first time since 1691, Burrows noted, that the Roman Catholic Church’s papacy and the Church of England’s office of the archbishop of Canterbury are vacant at the same time. The center’s director also serves as the archbishop of Canterbury’s representative to the Holy See at the Vatican. Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, April 21. An Anglican delegation, including Burrows and Ball, attended Francis’ April 26 funeral. The conclave to elect the next pope begins May 7. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby stepped down Jan. 6 under pressure over his handling of a sprawling abuse scandal in the Church of England. The Crown Nominations Commission has started the process of choosing a successor. “We heard much at the papal funeral about the importance of building bridges rather than walls… In a very special way, the director of this center builds and reinforces bridges on behalf of all Anglicans between Canterbury and Rome,” Burrows said. “It’s, of course, particularly challenging to build bridges when the actual supports on both sides of the bridge you’re supposed to be building have been temporarily removed,” he said, again alluding to the top vacancies in both churches. Still, he added, it could be “a perfect and strangely providential moment for a new bridge-building director to begin his endeavor.” As Ball begins his directorship, Burrows said, “all things are being made new. And he’s just the person to make the very best and most exciting use of a genuinely, strangely, fairly blank canvas.” The center’s Board of Governors announced Ball’s appointment as director last November. Ball has served formerly as canon steward and archdeacon of Westminster Abbey, bishop of the Diocese of North Africa in the Province of Alexandria and assistant bishop in the Diocese of Egypt after a previous career as a diplomat. As center director, he succeeds Bishop Ian Ernest, who retired in late January. Founded in 1966 after a meeting between Pope Paul VI and Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey, the Anglican Centre serves as the Anglican Communion’s representation in Rome and a space for ecumenical encounters and dialogue. The Anglican Centre has served as home not just for Anglicans, but all Christians, said Roman Catholic Archbishop Flavio Pace, the Vatican’s secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity. “This is the house of the Gospel,” he said. “We pray for you … that you can go on building the bridge.” Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe Bishop Mark Edington brought greetings from the Anglican bishops serving throughout Europe and from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe. Then, as a symbol of what unites Anglicans and Episcopalians throughout the communion, he gave Ball a Book of Common Prayer in both English and Italian. “Welcome to your place, my dear brother. We are glad you’re here,” Edington said. Housed in Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in the Eternal City’s historic center, the Anglican Centre hosts weekly Tuesday services – open to visitors, tourists and pilgrims. The center hosts a weekly prayer circle attended by ecumenical partners, and it coordinates joint education, mission and ecumenical projects with the Vatican and other partners. It also offers study courses, access to a larger Christian research library, and introductory access to other local library collections and universities. In brief remarks, Ball thanked those who’d come to the center for the commissioning: “I just wanted to put myself at your service, as I do at our Lord’s service, that we might grow together and seek to do great things together in that pilgrimage … We look forward to the guidance of the Spirit and our mutual discernment of where we’re going to go.” — Lynette Wilson is a reporter and managing editor of Episcopal News Service. She is based in Rome.

[World Council of Churches] In a landmark gathering addressing the spiritual dimensions of the ecological crisis, Christian leaders from Eastern and Western traditions convened in Assisi, Italy, to develop a shared liturgical Feast of Creation. The three-day conference May 5-7 marks a significant step toward establishing what Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, moderator of the World Council of Churches central committee, described as “a wonderful expression of the trinitarian essence that unites us as churches” and a powerful spiritual response to the urgent climate challenges facing our planet. The conference brought together representatives from 16 world communions including the Anglican Communion, Baptist World Alliance, Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran World Federation and Eastern Orthodox churches. The discussions will focus on the theological foundations of the feast, lectionary readings, liturgical prayers and the date, with Sept. 1 being traditionally observed as Creation Day in Eastern Orthodox traditions. In his introductory address, Bedford-Strohm set the tone for the gathering, stating, “If the Assisi process continues to develop and reach its goal, it might become a landmark in the history of Christianity. Looking back into the second millennium, there seems to be only one precedent: the Feast of the Transfiguration, which was originally celebrated in the East and then adopted in the West in 1456.” Read the entire article here.

[Episcopal News Service] Christ Episcopal Church in Toms River, New Jersey, backed by the Diocese of New Jersey and Episcopal Church officials, is preparing to fight the township’s effort to acquire its 11-acre property. “We will do all that we can to ensure that your ministries in this place continue for a long, long time, and that it is the leadership of Christ Church, not the mayor or the township council, who decides how this church property is used,” New Jersey Bishop Sally French told Christ Church members in a May 4 letter to the congregation. The move by the town council and the mayor to buy the land or seize it through eminent domain comes at the same time that the church has an application pending approval for a 17-bed overnight homeless shelter on its property. Mayor Daniel Rodrick, who is behind the land-seizure effort, opposes the shelter, as do some of the church’s neighbors and others. The Rev. Joan Petit Mason, a diocesan staff member and a former Christ Church rector, read the bishop’s letter promising support at the end of the May 4 Eucharist. The Rev. Lisa Hoffman, Christ Church’s rector, who is out of town, reiterated the bishop’s stance. “The church and the diocese are prepared for a long court fight to protect our congregation and property from this egregious land grab,” she told the congregation in a another letter, read by Senior Warden Denise Henry. The reading of the two letters begins at the 1:13:00 mark here. French and Hoffman were scheduled to meet May 5 with lawyers representing Christ Church, the Diocese of New Jersey, and The Episcopal Church to “discuss our options,” the bishop said in her letter. In a statement released to news reporters, French reaffirmed her support for the church. “Jesus tells us to care for the poor and vulnerable as we would care for him, and the people of Christ Church are putting that commandment into action,” French said. The church and the diocese say the property is not for sale, yet the elected town council on April 30, during a raucous and contentious meeting, agreed to begin the process of buying or seizing the church and five other properties to create two new town parks. “As a Christian leader and a resident of New Jersey, I am troubled by the township’s move to block the faithful ministry of Christ Church, and I am saddened that the mayor and township council are prioritizing pickleball courts over responding to hunger and homelessness,” French said. “I ask that Toms River lift the burden these proceedings have placed on our parish and diocese, and I pray that we can move forward in serving our neighbors.” The church faces two different issues with the town. Its overnight shelter plan needs the Zoning Board of Adjustment to approve a classification variance. That vote is due on May 22. Six days later, on May 28, the town council is scheduled to take public comment and make a final decision on the land-seizure ordinance. French said she will attend the latter meeting to speak on behalf of Christ Church and the diocese. She encouraged Episcopalians in a May 3 statement to the diocese also to attend as a show of support. The church had less than 24 hours’ notice that the council would hear the first reading of a resolution to buy or seize the six parcels of land. The notice did not come from the town but rather from a Toms River resident who told a Christ Church member. The member alerted Hoffman. She acknowledged in her May 4 letter that “there are a variety of emotions” running through the congregation. “I would expect that many of you are feeling angry, afraid, uncertain and powerless,” she said. Some members want to take some action, she said. However, Hoffman asked them to “hold steady” until after those meetings so that the church will know where it stands. “This could be a long fight, and there will be plenty of time for community organizing and acts of protest,” Hoffman said. Rodrick, the mayor, has been critical of the presence of people experiencing homelessness in Toms River, accusing Ocean County of exaggerating the homeless issue and “dumping” homeless people into the township. County commissioners deny the accusation. On April 16, they said Rodrick is “actively creating a public emergency” by refusing to collaborate with them to help people experiencing homelessness and by shutting down the town’s winter warming center. He has also criticized rock star Jon Bon Jovi’s pop-up JBJ Soul Kitchen at the downtown library, claiming it attracts people who are homeless. The commissioners said in their letter that Rodrick’s “inflammatory finger-pointing does nothing to help those who are suffering and, worse, it threatens the safety and dignity of our residents.” – The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is a freelance writer who formerly was a senior editor and reporter for Episcopal News Service.

[Episcopal News Service] The dioceses of Northwestern Pennsylvania and Western New York, whose six-year partnership has served as a model for diocesan collaboration across The Episcopal Church, voted May 3 to seek separate bishops. The move effectively ends their partnership months after their former shared bishop stepped down to become the church’s presiding bishop. “We want to say clearly: this decision does not erase the many ways God has blessed our shared life,” the two standing committee presidents, the Rev. Luke Fodor of the Diocese of Western New York and the Rev. Stacey Fussell of the Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania, said in a joint statement after the vote. “Over the past six years, we have discovered the strength that comes from walking together, learning from each other, bearing witness together and offering the world a witness of hope and collaboration.” Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe, consecrated as Northwestern Pennsylvania’s bishop in 2007, added the role of bishop provisional of Western New York in 2019 under the two dioceses’ partnership agreement, which involved sharing staff and collaborating on ministries while remaining separate entities. Rowe resigned from both dioceses last year to take office Nov. 1 as the denominational leader. Before Rowe’s June 2024 election as presiding bishop, the two dioceses commissioned a study of their partnership to assess its results and help discern next steps. The study found both dioceses had embraced this “experiment for the sake of the Gospel” at a time of denominational decline. The partnership, however, also faced numerous challenges, including cultural differences, lack of clarity over resource allocation and some feelings of “suspicion, mistrust … and yearning for the past.” That report was released at the end of February 2025. On May 3, at a special joint convention of the two dioceses, both voted overwhelmingly against seeking a new bishop together, with 70% of combined delegates opposed. The two standing committee presidents said the dioceses will begin to “realign staff and administrative resources to serve each diocese separately” by July 1. A celebration of the partnership is planned for June 19. “This decision was made carefully and faithfully, with a deep love for the Church and a commitment to what is best for the mission and ministry of each diocese,” Fodor and Fussell said. “We give thanks for every relationship formed, every ministry strengthened and every new possibility glimpsed through our partnership. We will remain one in the Spirit even as we move forward as two dioceses.” Rowe also reacted to the votes, releasing a joint statement with former Western New York Bishop William Franklin, whose retirement in April 2019 helped pave the way for the dioceses to partner and to share Rowe as their bishop. “As founding bishops of the partnership, we give thanks for the past six years of collaborative ministry and all that the people of Northwestern Pennsylvania and Western New York have learned in this experiment for the sake of the gospel,” Rowe and Franklin said. “The risks that the leaders of the partnership took have catalyzed collaboration and conversation across The Episcopal Church, and we will be forever grateful to have served together with them. “May God bless both dioceses as they continue discerning where the Holy Spirit is guiding them next.” The partnership had originated years ago in conversations between Rowe and Franklin about the future of the Erie-based Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania and the Diocese of Western New York, based in the Buffalo area. In April 2017, when Franklin announced his plans to retire, he asked his diocesan standing committee to consider calling Rowe as provisional bishop. When the two bishops presented the idea to a joint clergy conference in September 2017, it initially “played to mixed reviews,” Rowe told Episcopal News Service in a 2018 article about the then-pending partnership. Clergy wondered about hidden agendas. Some wished the plan were more fleshed out. The bishops enlisted their members to help decide what such a partnership might look like. More than 500 people attended eight listening sessions in the two dioceses, and in May 2018, their standing committees unanimously voted to support the idea. That October, the dioceses voted at a jointly held convention to ratify the partnership, and Western New York elected Rowe to become its bishop provisional when Franklin retired in April 2019. “History will judge us as to the right and wrong of the choice,” Rowe said in a brief address before the votes were taken. “God? God will bless us in our faithfulness to the Gospel call – no matter our choice. And that’s all that matters.” A year later, at the partnership’s first joint convention in October 2019, Rowe described the goal as “privileging Gospel impact over our own provincial and territorial needs and wants.” “What we’re doing here is digging deep enough to find out what matters to us most,” Rowe said, “what’s essential to keep for the future, what’s essential to hold more lightly and, most importantly, creating the space for something new to emerge.” The partnership, though never publicly aspiring to a merger, inspired other dioceses that were exploring similar modes of collaboration, include some that have since merged. The diocese of Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan voted to share a bishop in 2019, and in 2024, they took the final steps toward uniting as one diocese, the new Diocese of the Great Lakes. The three Episcopal dioceses in Wisconsin also joined as one in 2024 after a three-year process of discernment that involved input from Rowe and his two dioceses. That churchwide trend continues, most actively in the dioceses of Central Pennsylvania and Bethlehem, which are on track to merge and form the new Diocese of the Susquehanna in January 2026. In Indiana, the dioceses of Indianapolis and Northern Indiana also are engaged in ongoing talks of becoming one statewide diocese. The committee leading those talks has recommended scheduling a vote on possible reunification in Lent 2026, and the dioceses remain in dialogue. Unlike […]

[Diocese of West Missouri] The Diocese of West Missouri ordained and consecrated the Rt. Rev. Amy Dafler Meaux as its ninth bishop on May 3 at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kansas City. More than 600 people attended. Dafler Meaux, the former dean and rector of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Little Rock, Arkansas, succeeds the Rt. Rev. Diane M. Jardine Bruce, who has served the diocese since December 2021 as bishop provisional. Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe was the chief consecrator. He was joined by Bruce, Arkansas Bishop John Harmon, Missouri Bishop Deon Johnson, California Bishop Austin Rios and Bishop Susan Candea of the Central States Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The diocese elected Dafler Meaux on Nov. 9, 2024, on the first ballot during its 135th Diocesan Convention, held in Kansas City at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral. “Over the last 18 months, I have witnessed the enormous capacity of our people to share the good news of Jesus Christ,” Dafler Meaux said. “From north to south and east to west, Episcopalians in this region of Missouri share the Gospel every day through radical acts of hospitality, feeding the hungry, caring for the sick and suffering, and bringing the reconciling word of God to our communities. I am excited, honored, and privileged to officially be yoked with them in ministry.”

[Church of England] The Bishop of London, the Rt. Rev. Sarah Mullally, who is the Church of England’s lead bishop for health and social care, has responded to the government impact assessments on the bill to introduce assisted suicide in England and Wales. The Department of Health and Social Care, together with the Ministry of Justice, published a main assessment and an equality impact assessment on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on May 2. Mullally said, “The impact assessment of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill makes for chilling reading as it highlights particular groups who would be put at risk by a change in the law, including those who are subject to health inequalities, and those vulnerable to domestic abuse. “It also sets out the financial savings of introducing an assisted dying service, through reduction in care costs, palliative and end of life care costs and state-provided benefits. “It is crude to see these cost savings set out in this way, and it is easy to see how numbers of this nature could contribute to someone feeling that they should pursue an assisted death rather than receive care. “Each human life is immeasurably more valuable than the money that may be saved through their premature death. “Every person is made in the image of God and holds an irreducible value that is worthy of care and support until the end of their life. “We must oppose any change in the law that puts the vulnerable at risk rather than working to improve access to desperately needed palliative care services.”

[Anglican Communion News Service] The Safe Church conference of Anglican provinces in East Africa took place April 30–May 4 in Nairobi, Kenya, hosted by the Anglican Church of Kenya. Featuring local experts, testimony from survivors and panel discussion, the conference gathered bishops, clergy and laity from across East Africa, including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan. The theme of the conference was “Breaking the Silence: Restoring Dignity,” inspired by Proverbs 31:8-9: “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” In his opening words, the primate and archbishop of all Kenya, the Most Rev. Jackson Ole Sapit, said, “Our theme is not merely a conference slogan. It is a divine call: a call to repent, to reflect, and to reform. A call to speak where the church has been silent. A call to restore what has been trampled – the dignity of the wounded, the trust of the faithful, and the holiness of the sanctuary.” Bwibo Adieri, executive director of the Anglican Development Services Kenya and conference director, told the Anglican Communion Office, “The intentional and deliberate approach the Anglican Communion has taken to build the capacity for Safe Church at every level of her churches’ leadership has enabled this buy-in by the provinces in East Africa to address and prevent abuse. In Kenya, the investment from the very top – from our archbishop and including the whole House of Bishops – is set to transform the way the church handles safeguarding issues, particularly the prevention and mitigation of existing abuses. I want to see all churches across East Africa having a safeguarding policy and, importantly, implementing this in their churches.” One of the speakers, the Rt. Rev. Rose Okeno, bishop of the Diocese of Bukere in the Anglican Church of Kenya, affirmed Safe Church as central to mission in the East Africa provinces. She said, “Safeguarding is not an attack on the church: it is the fulfillment of her mission.” Mandy Marshall, director for gender justice for the Anglican Communion, who was invited to join the local organizing team, commented, “Safeguarding is central to the good news of Jesus. Implementing safeguarding policies, practices and procedures are critical to ensuring all who come into contact with our church and church workers are not only kept safe from harm but also can worship without fear. “The Safe Church Commission wants to see provinces and churches taking action and utilizing the resources of the commission and bringing it ‘home’ to their own provinces and dioceses. It is wonderful to see how the provinces in East Africa are responding to the challenge and embracing the principles, adapting them as needed for their own culture and context.” Find out more about the Anglican Communion Safe Church Commission.

[Diocese of Dallas] The Episcopal Diocese of Dallas on May 3 elected the Very Rev. Rob Price as the diocese’s bishop coadjutor. He was elected on the second ballot at a special convention that took place at St. Michael and All Angels in Dallas, Texas. Price currently is the dean of St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Dallas. In a statement to the convention, Price said, “Thank you for your faith and your trust in me.” He added, “I look forward to working with you all. Let me say clearly, I need your help to do this wonderful work.” He was chosen from a slate of three nominees, including the Rt. Rev. Fraser Lawton, assistant bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas; and the Rev. Bill Carroll, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, Longview, Texas, in the Diocese of Texas. “We give thanks for Bishop Coadjutor-elect Price and for the grace and faithfulness shown by all the nominees and their families, said the Rev. Perry Mullins, president of the Standing Committee. “Today is a joyful day for the Diocese of Dallas, and we are excited for the road ahead.” Dallas Bishop George R. Sumner expressed his gratitude to all three candidates for participating in the process. “I know that Dean Price will bring many gifts to the episcopal office and will prove well suited to the time into which we as a church now move,” he said.  “Keep praying for him and his family.” Pending consents, Price will be ordained and consecrated bishop coadjutor in September. He will serve in that role until Sumner’s retirement.

[Episcopal News Service] The Diocese of New Jersey’s Episcopal Community Services will host its annual Sunday campaign, a day dedicated to raising awareness of designated social justice issues and galvanizing congregations to volunteer, donate money or spread awareness, on May 4.  The campaign is held every first Sunday of May. This year’s theme is “Building on a Firm Foundation,” focusing on the ongoing refugee and immigration crisis. “We in the diocese are appalled by what’s happening to migrants. … Anybody who looks like they might be Hispanic can be rounded up and taken away without due process of law, including infants who are American citizens and people who have judicial orders permitting them to stay because of credible fears of being tortured if they return to their home countries,” Rosina Dixion, chair of Episcopal Community Services’ advisory council and prayer committee, told Episcopal News Service. Since beginning his second term in January, President Donald Trump has issued multiple executive orders restricting immigration to the United States, including the asylum process, and increasing security along the U.S.-Mexico border. In his first 100 days back in office, ICE has arrested 66,464 undocumented immigrants and deported 65,682, though many other immigrants who have been arrested and deported were in the United States legally. In March, hundreds of Venezuelan migrants – many of whom were legally in the United States – were arrested and sent to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador that has been criticized for alleged human rights abuses. The Trump administration has alleged the illegally detained migrants have ties to the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. However, many of the migrants’ families and lawyers insist they have no gang ties, and documents show that about 90% of them have no U.S. criminal record. Many have disappeared from the U.S. detainee tracking system. Episcopal Community Service members have been distributing red cards to immigrants that describe their legal rights ahead of the campaign. They also have been providing churches information to learn how to participate in immigration justice work as a congregation and individually, as well as liturgical resources focusing on justice for marginalized and displaced people. “ECS Sunday is really to celebrate the outreach throughout the diocese, and we try to balance charitable giving with advocating for justice. We take the source and the symptoms of oppression and try to stamp it out wherever we can,” Dixion said. “ECS Sunday is one way to remind people that we’re prioritizing our work with immigrants because of the current situation. That seems to be the biggest attack on Gospel justice right now.” The first ECS Sunday campaign launched in 2021. Since then, Episcopal Community Services has used campaign donations to award $479,000 in grants to 37 ministries throughout the diocese. St. John’s Episcopal Church in Little Silver is one of ECS Sunday’s 24 founding congregations. The Rev. Tammy Young, St. John’s rector and a member of Episcopal Community Services’ advisory board, told ENS that she plans to use ECS Sunday’s special liturgy during Sunday worship. Her homily, based on the story of Paul’s conversion from Acts 9, will address how anyone can make a positive difference in their community and that everyone is called by God to salvation.  “We like to think that salvation is a one-way ticket to heaven, but that’s not what biblical salvation is,” Young said. “Our role in advocacy – in seeing need and responding to it – we must teach people to stop being afraid each other, take a chance and go out and start bringing healing to people.” Episcopal Community Services has provided parishes materials to use to promote ECS Sunday so that the campaign and immigration justice can be incorporated into their May 4 worship services in some way. Money donated to the campaign will fund various outreach ministries throughout the year, including feeding and housing initiatives. Dixion said Episcopal Community Services is hoping to raise $125,000, with $75,000 for the grant budget and $50,000 for additional expenses. The grants “are designed to expand existing compassion and justice ministries of congregations and make new ones possible,” according to Episcopal Community Service’s website. Young said St. John’s congregation donates money to Episcopal Community Services throughout the year rather than strictly on ECS Sunday. Most recently, St. John’s donated $1,000 at the beginning of 2025. The church also has been an ECS Sunday grant recipient and used the money to build a community vegetable garden that will help feed nearby pantries and ministries. The garden’s “grand opening” is June 1, when New Jersey Bishop Sally French is scheduled to visit. “It’s our co-mission with God to make this world the way he intended it to be, that everybody has access to resources to take care of themselves and their families,” Young said. “ The Rev. Marshall Shelly, rector of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Spotswood and vice president of Episcopal Community Services’ board of trustees, told ENS that having a designated campaign day allows the organization to focus on one theme for the year, maximize positive impact locally and further encourage participation. “Having an ECS Sunday puts our fundraising and advocacy efforts to the forefront of people in the pews, so they understand that this is an ongoing thing. It invites people to partner with us as congregations, as households and individuals, and across the region. We get people to really connect to the mission and the vision of it,” said Shelly, who also is a member of the advisory board and previously served on the Diocese of New Jersey’s Task Force on Refugees and Resettlement. This year, “we are encouraging people to advocate for those who are sojourners in the land and helping to welcome all to a place of refuge and rest.” Congregations that participate in ENS Sunday will be given a virtual medallion on their websites to show their commitment to supporting immigration justice and other forms of social justice. Episcopal Community Services […]

[Episcopal News Service – Toms River, New Jersey] An Episcopal congregation here, after facing months of backlash from some neighbors in response to its proposal for a 17-bed homeless shelter, now has been targeted by the town for possible public seizure of the 11-acre church property through eminent domain. The congregation, Christ Episcopal Church, says the property is not for sale, yet the elected town council on April 30, during a raucous and contentious meeting, agreed to begin the process of buying or seizing the church and five other properties to create two new town parks. The Rev. Lisa A. Hoffman, Christ Church’s rector, said that a Toms River resident alerted a parishioner to the addition of the proposed eminent domain ordinance to the meeting’s agenda, and that parishioner contacted Hoffman the evening before the meeting. The town had not notified the church about the pending vote, she said. “It’s just really shocking and surprising and very disappointing,” Hoffman told Episcopal News Service. “There’s a lot of anger and frustration going on.” She said she doesn’t see the proposed park plan as a “legitimate reason to seize the property.” Mayor Daniel Rodrick has been highly critical of the presence of people experiencing homelessness in Toms River, accusing Ocean County of exaggerating the homeless issue and “dumping” homeless people into the township. He has criticized rock star Jon Bon Jovi’s pop-up JBJ Soul Kitchen at the downtown library, claiming it attracts people who are homeless. The church now faces two different issues with the town. Its overnight shelter plan needs the approval of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. That vote is due on May 22. Six days later, on May 28, the town council is scheduled to take public comment and make a final decision on the land-seizure ordinance. Christ Church is by far the largest property of the six that would be affected by the eminent domain proposal. Rodrick has said he wants a park on the church land with pickleball courts, a soccer field, a playground and a skate park. The other properties include three private marinas along the Toms River and an empty lot that would form a waterfront park. “It is clear and obvious that the township and mayor are acting in bad faith and have ulterior motives,” attorney Michael York told Assistant Township Attorney Peter Pascarella in a letter delivered just before the April 30 council meeting. “Clearly, they are not even trying to hide their actions. This attempt to use eminent domain as an excuse to obtain property is not disguised in this instance.” York, who was hired by a local affordable housing advocacy group to represent the church, said “even a cursory review of the relevant case law would indicate that the township is in a perilous position.” He promised legal action against the town, council members and any staff  “who knowingly participated in this bad faith action.” Hoffman said the 160-year-old Christ Church is “an active, vital community” with an average Sunday attendance of more than 150. Beyond Sunday, the church is a hub for community outreach, hosting more than 20 support groups and running a food pantry, as well as a weekly clothing distribution effort. It also offers resources to people experiencing homelessness and other people at risk who come to the church for assistance, as does Ocean Christian Community, which rents an older church building on the property. The Affordable Housing Alliance, which helps people find homes, has operated on the property for almost two years. Hoffman said the group rehoused more than 130 families during its first year at Christ Church. The group also brings in other agencies to help the people it serves. Some of the frustration that Hoffman identified in the community was obvious April 30 from the outset of the six-minute debate on the issue, during which council members yelled at each other, and one accused another of hating God, Christ, homeless people and humanity. Council member Thomas Nivison, shouting at times, tried to get the proposed ordinance tabled or to at least remove the Christ Church property from consideration. The motion to table failed 4-3, the same margin by which the council passed the ordinance’s first reading moments later. (The debate begins at the 36:19 mark here.) David Ciccozzi, another council member, stood to vote against the ordinance and led the room in praying the Lord’s Prayer. “There’s no way on God’s green Earth that anyone should vote for this ordinance,” council member James Quinlisk said to loud applause and shouts as he cast a no vote. He said passing the ordinance would set up the town for a lawsuit, “one that I don’t think (the mayor) understands the scale of.” Under The Episcopal Church’s so-called “Dennis Canon” (Canon 1.7.4), passed by the General Convention in 1979, a parish holds its property in trust for the diocese and The Episcopal Church. While the Toms River council does not take public comment during the first reading of any proposed ordinance, the members got an earful April 30 during the meeting’s general comment time. The speakers included people who said they had been or currently were homeless. Some talked of struggling with addiction, and many spoke of how churches, including Christ Church, helped them. “I don’t know whether you believe in Christ or believe in God, but when you start messing with his children, you’ve got a lot of trouble,” Toms River resident Angie Feldman said. Will Wiencke, a Christ Church member who said he was speaking only for himself, told the council that he wonders what he can do to help alleviate the problem of homelessness. “But I feel like there’s something my church can do. I don’t know how many of you will be here in 10 years, but Christ Episcopal Church will be.” – The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is a freelance writer who formerly was a senior editor and reporter for Episcopal News Service.

[Episcopal News Service] Washington Bishop Mariann Budde announced April 30 that former Maryland Bishop Eugene Sutton will join the Diocese of Washington as a part-time assistant bishop. Sutton retired from leading the Baltimore-based Diocese of Maryland in April 2024 after nearly 16 years. The Diocese of Washington, based in the nation’s capital city, includes congregations in Washington, D.C., and parts of Maryland. The following is the letter Budde sent to her diocese announcing Sutton’s new role. I am pleased to announce that the Right Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton has accepted the call to serve as part-time assistant bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, beginning in September 2025. Bishop Sutton is no stranger to the Diocese of Washington. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Bishop Sutton served several EDOW congregations as priest and as canon pastor of Washington National Cathedral prior to his election as bishop of the Diocese of Maryland, where he served from 2008-2024. He currently serves as senior pastor of the Chautauqua Institution, a national religious, educational and arts organization based in upstate New York. Bishop Sutton is married to Sonya Subbayya Sutton, a past president of the Association of Anglican Musicians who has served several Episcopal churches as organist/choirmaster over a 40-year career. They live in Washington, D.C., for most of the year, and in the summer months in Chautauqua, New York. Always a good friend to the Diocese of Washington, Bishop Sutton will surely be a blessing among us as he steps into the role of assistant bishop. He will make Sunday parish visits (an average of two per month) and take part in other services and events where a bishop’s presence is desired or required. Most importantly, he will serve as a pastor to clergy and congregations, with a particular focus on our historically Black and predominantly Black congregations. Bishop Sutton is a leader with many spiritual gifts. He has a passion for leading retreats and pilgrimages, and for helping others go deeper in their faith through contemplative prayer practices. Bishop Sutton also has a strong commitment to racial reconciliation and justice, and he is a nationally recognized leader on reparations as a means toward reconciliation. “I am honored and excited to be returning to the Diocese of Washington in this new capacity,” said Bishop Sutton. “Over the years I’ve been fortunate to get to know many of the parishes and people here. Now as its assistant bishop, I look forward to forming new bonds of mutuality and affection as together we encounter the living Christ in our midst and continue God’s mission of reconciliation both within the diocese and in the world beyond.” Given his summer responsibilities, we won’t see much of Bishop Sutton until September. In the next few weeks, however, he will get to know our diocesan staff and we will begin working out his schedule for the fall and beyond. If there is an event for which you would like to invite Bishop Sutton when he begins his ministry among us please contact Allen Fitzpatrick, executive assistant to the canons. In the meantime, please join me in giving thanks for the opportunity to welcome him back to the Diocese of Washington.