Episcopal News Service

[Episcopal News Service] The Diocese of Florida is calling for prayer after a gunman shot multiple people at Florida State University in Tallahassee, the state’s capital, this afternoon. At least two people are reported dead and at least five are receiving treatment at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare. A suspect is in custody. The campus is closed as several buildings are still an active crime scene, though law enforcement “has neutralized the threat,” according to the latest alert from Florida State. The Jacksonville-based Diocese of Florida’s Episcopal University Center of FSU at Ruge Hall serves Florida State and the Tallahassee community. Anyone in need of pastoral support may contact the ministry center at jacob@rugehall.org. As of April 17, 4,064 people have died from gun violence nationwide this year, including 81 from mass shootings, according to the Gun Violence Archive, an American nonprofit that catalogs every gun-related death in the United States. The organization defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are shot either fatally or non-fatally, excluding the shooter. The Episcopal diocese shared a prayer April 17 in response to the day’s violence in an email newsletter and on Facebook: “Gracious God, our strength and consolation, be present with all students, faculty and staff that are part of the Florida State University community and their families. Dispatch your angels to any families whose loved ones have been affected; help them to feel your love and care even at this dark hour. Heal those who have been hospitalized through the care of skilled professionals and restore them to health. Bless the first responders and law enforcement officers who run towards danger on our behalf.  And finally, we pray for the one who committed this violence that they would repent and live the rest of their days as your healing instrument, this we pray in the name of Jesus, Lord and friend. Amen.” St. John’s Episcopal Church in Tallahassee, located less than a mile east of Florida State’s campus, announced on Facebook that it will remain open April 17 into the evening for anyone in need of a quiet space. A priest will be available in the sanctuary for pastoral care until 6 p.m. Eastern and from 8 p.m. to midnight.  St. John’s Maundy Thursday service will take place this evening at 6:30. Security will be at the church beginning at 8 p.m. “You do not have to walk through this night alone,” the Facebook post says. “Come find peace, light a candle, or sit in stillness. You are welcome here.”

[Episcopal News Service] April 19 marks 30 years since 168 people were killed and hundreds more were injured in a truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the deadliest domestic terrorist attack in U.S. history. The explosion extensively damaged St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral two blocks away, causing a two-year closure and $7.5 million in renovations. The congregation, however, remained close. Parishioners worshiped in the parish hall as they collectively grieved and healed physically, emotionally and spiritually. Because the bombing anniversary falls on Holy Saturday this year, St. Paul’s will dedicate its Easter Vigil service to commemorating the victims and survivors. The service will begin at 8 p.m. Central. “There are years that the anniversary comes and slips up on me, and some years are smoother than others. But I have noticed that I’m feeling a little more tender [this year] with it being the week of Easter,” Dianne Dooley, a survivor and co-director of St. Paul’s altar guild, told Episcopal News Service. Dooley was working at the Department of Veterans Affairs office in the Murrah Federal Building when the bomb went off three days after Easter, and suffered a compound fracture to her right wrist. “Thirty years is a lifetime that a lot of people didn’t get when they passed away in 1995, and I’ve had a second lifetime,” Dooley said. “I think back on all that transpired in those 30 years, and it just reminds me how fragile life is.” Dooley and her husband learned about and later joined St. Paul’s and The Episcopal Church after attending a grief workshop following the attack for survivors at St. Crispin’s Conference Center + Camp in Wewoka, which is owned by the Diocese of Oklahoma. St. Paul’s Easter Vigil service will commence at the Survivor Tree within the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, where the Murrah Federal Building once stood. The Survivor Tree is an American elm that survived the bomb’s blast; it stands in what was the parking lot between the Murrah Federal Building and the Journal Record Building – now named The Heritage – which houses the museum. The congregation will light a Paschal candle and 168 luminarias with the names and pictures of those who died in the bombing. They will then process to the cathedral with the luminarias and candle. The rest of the service will be livestreamed once everyone is inside the cathedral. Susan Urbach – a verger, Eucharistic minister and assistant treasurer of St. Paul’s, as well as the president of the Diocese of Oklahoma’s Standing Committee – was working as director of the Oklahoma Small Business Development Center on the third floor of the Journal Record Building when the bomb exploded. She suffered injuries throughout her body and spent several hours in surgery. “Whenever a tragedy happens, everybody wants life to go back to normal, the way it was before that bad event happened. But it can’t, and that’s probably one of the hardest things to begin to say,” Urbach told ENS. “Ultimately, there will be a new normal, and it won’t be the same. … Healing is different for everyone. We would like for healing to come quickly, but it doesn’t happen that way.” Urbach said St. Paul’s was crucial to her physical, spiritual and emotional recovery. After she was discharged from the hospital, parishioners provided food, took care of her cats, helped change her dressings and washed her hair. “I am just so grateful for my church family,” said Urbach, who previously served as senior warden of St. Paul’s. Immediately after the bombing, at least 100 volunteer clergy and lay leaders from St. Paul’s worked together to feed first responders and rescue workers as they cleaned debris and recovered bodies from the rubble. That sense of helping people affected by the bombing remains instilled in cathedral members today. For example, many of them volunteer every year at the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon, the largest fundraiser for the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. Their actions abide by the “Oklahoma Standard,” a statewide initiative borne from the bombing to promote a culture of service, honor and kindness.  For Oklahoma Bishop Poulson Reed, “that just sums up the Christian faith of the cathedral.” “As bishop, I have been so impressed in the five years that I have been here with the deep faith of our cathedral members, and I believe that, in some respects, it is due to how faithfully they responded to that incredible tragedy,” Reed told ENS. “We had members of our cathedral community who were directly impacted by that horrible day – by that violence – and yet they were able to rely on their faith to overcome the trauma of that day to bring healing and hope not only to the cathedral, but to the city.” Reed and St. Paul’s clergy will lead the cathedral’s Easter Vigil service, when 14 people will be baptized. Forty people will be confirmed, including Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt’s children, George and Margaret. A lifelong Episcopalian and a member of the Osage Nation, Holt and his family are parishioners of St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church in Oklahoma City. “Like all members of the OKC faith community, The Episcopal Church stepped up in 1995 to help our community heal,” Holt told ENS in an email. “We all continue to work together in OKC to support those who lost a loved one and those who survived, while also working to make sure that the lessons of April 19th are never forgotten. Christian love is the purest answer to hatred, dehumanization and violence.” On the morning of the anniversary, Holt will speak at the annual memorial service downtown. Since he took office in 2018, Holt has addressed the direct challenges of extremism in every speech. In the case of the Oklahoma City bombing, two anti-government extremists – mastermind Timothy McVeigh and accomplice Terry Nichols – retaliated against the federal […]

[Religion News Service] American organized religion is a bit like a scene from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” It has been on the decline for decades, but churches aren’t dead yet. A new survey from Nashville-based Lifeway Research found that 94% of Protestant pastors believe their church will still be open in 10 years, with 78% strongly agreeing that will be true. Four percent of pastors say their church will close, with the other 2% saying they don’t know, according to the survey released April 15. Conducted over the phone, it surveyed 1,003 randomly selected Protestant pastors between Aug. 8 and Sept. 3, 2024. Those pastors may be right, say researchers who study the American religious landscape. Duke University sociologist Mark Chaves, who runs the National Congregations Study, said past studies found that about 1 in 100 churches close each year. So, the idea that most churches will be around in 10 years isn’t surprising. “An interesting thing about churches as organizations is that they have ways of staying alive in a very weakened state,” Chaves said in an email. “Other organizations would close, but weak churches have ways of staying alive.” Scott Thumma, director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, said the long-term trends for congregations are more worrisome. But in the short term, congregations have become more optimistic. In a 2021 study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on congregations, 7% of church respondents reported their existence was threatened, and 5% said their church was in serious financial difficulty. By 2023, 3% of churches surveyed said they were in serious financial difficulty. That same year, in a study about how the pandemic has affected churches, 2% of church leaders said they were feeling very negative about their church’s future, while 9% were somewhat negative. Lifeway’s findings that few pastors thought their churches would be closing, Thumma said, were “within the ballpark.” He also said small churches that have few staff members and have paid off their building can keep going for a long time. They may have already seen some decline and know how to cope with it. Things are harder, he said, for midsize churches that no longer have enough people or money to sustain themselves. “Small churches can be resilient for a long time, especially when their building is paid for,” said Scott McConnell, director of Lifeway Research. While many churches may survive the next decade, the 20-year outlook is bleaker. “People who are in their 70s now won’t be gone in 10 years, but they will be gone in 20 years,” Thumma said. “That’s where you’re going to see the real drop.” Count the Rev. Nic Mather of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Longview, Washington, among the pastors who are optimistic for the future. The church has seen a slow but steady stream of newcomers in the last few years, mostly people who are seeking spiritual meaning and the kind of close-knit community the church offers. “There’s a power of being in community with others,” he said, “and that ethos and sense of community is so strong here that it continues to attract people.” Mather said his congregation is aware that people don’t come to church in the way they did in the past. That’s made it focus more on reaching out to neighbors. The church also allows a number of community groups to use its building, seeing it as a resource for those neighbors. “We are truly hub for our community. So many people come into our building for things that aren’t church that I can’t imagine this place not being here,” he said. Bob Stevenson, pastor of Village Baptist Church in Aurora, Illinois, is also optimistic about his congregation’s prospects. “We’re 40 years old and we have weathered quite a bit, and so unless there is some scandal or some major change socioeconomically in our area, I don’t see anything changing in terms of the church itself,” he said. Stevenson said the church, which draws about 120 worshippers and is ethnically diverse, has taken steps to “future-proof” itself. That includes paying attention to the integrity of its leadership, something some churches have ignored to their peril. He also said the church has a strong, committed core of members, which will help it continue for the long term. Still, he said, COVID-19 taught him and other church leaders that no one can predict the future. Ryan Burge, a former pastor and author of “The American Religious Landscape,” said it’s hard to know when a church is ready to close. Burge, a political scientist at Eastern Illinois University, was the longtime pastor of First Baptist Church in downstate Mount Vernon, which closed last summer. His church, which was more than 150 years old when it closed, had been on the decline for years but rallied more than a few times. Eventually, as older members of the congregation died, there were no young people to take their place. “All it takes is two or three people to die in close succession, and it’s game over for a lot of those churches,” he said. The new Pew Religious Landscape Study found that 85% of Americans ages 65 and older identify with a religion, and 78% identify as Christian. However, only 54% of Americans under 30 identify with a religion, including 45% who say they are Christian. Lifeway Research found some indication that the rate of churches closing might have increased. The survey includes a look at data from the Southern Baptist Convention showing that 1.8% of congregations disbanded or closed in 2022, the last year with data available. If that annual percentage were to hold steady over the next decade, it would mean about 18% of churches would close during that time, which is more than than pastors surveyed would have predicted. McConnell also said some of the churches that closed may not have had a pastor, which could explain the difference between how pastors feel and the statistics. “But if we assume the […]

[Melbourne Anglican]  Zaki Haidari was only 17 when he fled persecution in Afghanistan. He is now a refugee rights campaigner with Amnesty International Australia, a key contributor to Melbourne’s Palm Sunday March for Refugees. Zaki sought asylum by sea in 2012. He was trying to find a safe country. The Taliban was committing mass murders among the Hazara community to which Zaki belonged. Hazara voices were silenced, and there was no freedom of movement. “The decision wasn’t easy,” he said. “Leaving your country, your family and friends, the place you grew up.” On arriving in Australia, Zaki was denied work rights for three years. There was no funding for him to study or learn English. “It was a bit harsh on me being that age and not having any rights…rights I strongly believe every human being deserves, rights to education…to have freedom to find employment and sustain yourself,” he said. Zaki said refugees were required to sign a contract with the immigration department not to speak publicly about their experiences. He said this silencing was similar to the silencing of the Hazara people in Afghanistan. But Zaki chose to speak out. As a result, he received a scholarship to study English and went on to complete diplomas in information technology and graphic design. On a surprisingly warm Palm Sunday, masses of people gathered to march in support of asylum seekers like Zaki. Led across Princes Bridge by Riff Raff Marching Band, grandparents, students, children, and faith and community organizations made their voices heard, calling on Australia to welcome refugees with justice and kindness. Grandmothers for Refugees member Sue was thinking of the refugees stranded in Papua New Guinea. “They have done nothing wrong except claim refugee status,” she said. Medical Students for Refugees representatives Farah and Julia were marching to call out the poor healthcare available to refugees. “As future healthcare professionals we’re taught not to do any harm, and healthcare is a human right,” Farah said. “As medical students we’re here to rally for the rights of refugees.” Julia said they represented a body of medical students who supported health equity for all refugees and asylum seekers. St. Mary’s North Melbourne parishioner Michael said he believed in justice for refugees. “If you want to make things better…first you pray for it, and then you act on it,” he said. “That’s how prayer works.” The dean of Melbourne, the Very Rev. Andreas Loewe, reflected in his address to the march that St. Paul’s Cathedral’s commitment to welcoming refugees had transformed the community. “Our congregation grew more international, with members from across the globe, displaced people, migrants, those who fled persecution for their faith,” he said. Loewe said the congregation changed and grew from listening to the stories from the refugees, hearing their traditions and supporting one another with their gifts. “As a cathedral we’re significantly enriched,” he said. “This exchange is something we want to see in our nation as well.” Former United Nations assistant secretary-general Gillian Triggs said she was pleased to be a part of the Palm Sunday march, which emphasized welcoming the stranger. She said there was an increased global willingness to deny the legal standards of the Refugee Convention. Triggs said faith groups were vital to the U.N.’s work with displaced people. “They don’t go away when the money runs out,” she said. “They’re always there in the community, and they’re the ones that deliver a lot of the humanitarian responses.”

[Church in Wales] Two ministry areas in Mid Wales are working together to bring the Easter story to their communities. A joint project by the Black Mountains and St. Catwg ministry areas is taking modern art paintings that tell the Easter story, usually seen in art galleries or cathedrals, and placing them in shops, cafés and pubs in towns and villages along the rivers Usk and Wye. The paintings tell the traditional Easter narrative but with a twist – every picture is set in modern London. By taking part in the project, businesses in Crickhowell, Talgarth, Llangors and Hay-on-Wye are enabling the public to see these dramatic Passion pictures in everyday settings. Locations for the 15 pictures, painted by Mark Cazalet, include London Underground tube stations, a scrap yard and the streets outside Wormwood Scrubs prison. The works depicting the trial, humiliation, torture, crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus can be seen until Good Friday in two pubs, two butchers’ shops, cafes, a bookshop, a college office, a petrol station forecourt and an architectural salvage yard. Fr. David Wyatt, priest at Hay-on-Wye, has four paintings in the busy market town, including the opening scene depicting the trial of Jesus. This picture is hanging in one of the town’s barbershops, another painting is in a butcher’s window and one is shown in a local pub. “The placing of the Passion of our Lord into contemporary backdrops, familiar to many, is quite striking and effective. Being offered an opportunity to reflect is an important part of a good Lent,” he said. The project is the initiative of the same team who brought camels to Brecon on Christmas Eve in 2023 in a live public nativity. “We’re hoping that people will see Jesus and the traditional Easter story in a clear and fresh way while out shopping and relaxing in their local towns and villages,” said the Rev. Anna Bessant, who has helped to bring the Easter paintings project to life and looks after churches around Llangors Lake. “The paintings are very immediate and shocking and, because the scenes are set in modern Britain, we hope it will move people to think about the relevance of Easter today and encounter the story of God’s transforming love.” The project also offers a re-telling of the traditional Easter story in a simple way, to allow people who are not familiar with Jesus’s journey an opportunity to discover more about the Christian faith. In Talgarth, the window of the butcher W. J. George’s is displaying one of the paintings until Good Friday. Georgina George, who runs the Deli Pot in Talgarth’s village butcher shop, said, “It’s a privilege to be hosting one of these important pictures. We’re delighted to be telling part of the story here in Talgarth, and people can see some of the other paintings just a few yards away at the Black Mountain College office and in the cafes.” The 15 paintings together are called “West London Stations of The Cross.” The picture called “Women of Jerusalem Weep” shows Jesus travelling to his death surrounded by soldiers among market stalls on Portobello Road in West London. Until Good Friday it is on display at Llangynidr’s Walnut Tree Café. “Our business is mainly run by women, so it’s very apt for us to be hosting this painting,” Claire Preece, who runs the café, said. “It’s a pleasure to be taking part in telling the Easter story in the area, collaborating with local businesses and churches. Walnut Tree Café customers are intrigued by this painting and the meaning behind it. It’s certainly different from lots of the artwork usually found in cafes in the Usk Valley.” The paintings have been loaned to the project by John and Liz Gibbs. Richard Parry from the New Library, Llantwit Major, who is working with the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon ministry areas this year to bring the project to life, organized a similar project last year in pubs and cafes on the south Wales coast. Richard said, “These paintings in Powys are very important. They remind us of the everyday compassion of people on pavements in the face of cruel violence in the world. As we re-visit the Easter Passion and Resurrection of Jesus, we look directly into the heart of the Christian faith. This project deals with our modern predicament today and links it to the Passion, degradation and transformation of the Easter story.” All the paintings remain on display in Powys cafes, pubs and shops until Good Friday, April 18, when the full 15 will be brought together for public viewing as a public offer at the small Celtic church at Llanywern, near Llangors Lake, starting on Saturday, April 19. A full list of the pubs, shops and cafes displaying the paintings can be found here.

[Episcopal News Service] The Very Rev. Sandye Wilson, interim dean of the Cathedral of All Saints in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, died on April 15. An announcement of her death was made by the cathedral on its Facebook page on April 16. Wilson, who was also vice chair of the Church Pension Fund board of trustees, announced on March 19 via Facebook that after two surgeries, she had been diagnosed with stage 3 serous endometrial cancer and would undergo about six months of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. On April 4, she posted that she had completed her first round of chemotherapy. Serous endometrial cancer occurs in about 10% of all cases of endometrial cancer but represents 40% of deaths. “Sandye will be remembered for her unwavering service and commitment to The Episcopal Church. She was a dedicated member of The Church Pension Fund Board of Trustees and held many roles over the past decade, most recently as a Vice Chair of the Board. We will dearly miss her leadership, witness, intelligence, passion, humor, and friendship,” Mary Kate Wold, CEO AND president of The Church Pension Fund, said in a statement. Wilson was elected to the fund’s board at the 78th General Convention in 2015 and was reelected to a second term in 2022. In addition to serving as a vice chair, she served as a member of the Benefits Policy Committee, the Compensation, Diversity, and Workplace Values Committee and the Executive Committee. Wilson’s ministry in The Episcopal Church spanned more than 40 years. Ordained as a priest in 1980, she served congregations in the dioceses of Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, Newark and New Jersey. She also served as chief operating officer of Saint Augustine’s University, a private historically Black university in Raleigh, North Carolina, one of two HBCUs still associated with The Episcopal Church. She was a longtime deputy to General Convention, a member of Executive Council and former president of the Union of Black Episcopalians. Tributes to Wilson quickly appeared across social media. Missouri Bishop Deon Johnson on Facebook described Wilson as someone “whose indelible mark on countless lives will long be cherished.” He added, “She has been a guiding light, a faithful friend, a dedicated companion and a catalyst for good trouble to so many in this church and beyond. She now rests with the ancestors and saints in the realms of eternal light.” Notice of her death also was shared by the Union of Black Episcopalians, who called Wilson a “UBE pioneer.” The Rev. Susan Russell, canon for engagement across difference for the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, California, posted, “If you Google ‘force of nature,’ Sandye Wilson’s photo would rise to the top.” Russell said that like others she was grieving Wilson’s death “while giving thanks for her bright light and powerful witness to a church she loved too much not to challenge it to be better than it was willing to settle to be.” No announcement has yet been made regarding funeral arrangements.

[Episcopal News Service] The Very Rev. Lisa Hackney-James knows her problem is a good one to have. It’s a printing dilemma: How many bulletins will be enough for Easter this Sunday at St. James Episcopal Cathedral in Chicago, Illinois? Like most Episcopal congregations, attendance at St. James surges on Easter, when the holy day draws many people who don’t worship regularly on other Sundays. The same goes for Christmas, another holy day central to the Christian faith. “The last thing we want to do is have them show up and say we’re out of bulletins,” Hackney-James, St. James’ dean, told Episcopal News Service. For clergy and lay leaders planning Holy Week services, it’s tempting to “pull out all the stops” and impress visitors with grand liturgies and rousing sermons, the Rev. Robert Picken said, but as rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Rochester, New York, “the thing I’ve learned is to be consistent all year around.” “I think visitors, in particular on Christmas and Easter, should sort of see what your parish is and get a sense of that,” Picken told ENS. Congregations across The Episcopal Church are busy this week preparing to welcome regular worshippers, friends, relatives and new visitors to their Holy Week services, culminating Sunday on Easter, which falls this year on April 20. And although The Episcopal Church and most other mainline Protestant denominations are experiencing long-term declines in Sunday attendance, the Easter surge is still a reliable phenomenon in Episcopal pews, with churchwide numbers more than doubling that day, according to parochial report data. Average Sunday attendance, one of the most closely tracked and debated metrics in the church’s parochial reports, totaled a combined 386,000 for all Episcopal congregations in 2023, continuing a rebound from the church’s pandemic lows. That same year, according to the latest available data, churchwide Easter attendance totaled 921,000. Christmas services were somewhat higher, with 976,000 worshipers. Easter historically was the only single day tracked by the church’s parochial reports, which all congregations and dioceses are required to file annually. The parochial reports first began collecting data on Christmas attendance in 2022. Easter attendance has declined by about 33% in the past decade, down from nearly 1.4 million in 2014. The Easter decline, however, is slightly less proportionally than the 36% drop in year-round attendance, from a weekly average of 600,000 in 2014 to 366,000 in 2023. And some congregations, like St. James in Chicago, say they are expecting an increase in Easter attendance this year, as more long-time members have resumed in-person worship routines that had been disrupted by the pandemic and new worshipers are seeking spiritual solace and community at a time of social and political upheaval. “This is a year where we I would say we’re back in full force,” Hackney-James, the Chicago dean, said. The cathedral logged average Sunday attendance of 355 in 2024, eclipsing its pre-pandemic levels, she said. Interest in the 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. services has continued to grow this year. The cathedral offers an Easter Vigil service Saturday night, and three Easter services on Sunday. Those services topped 1,000 worshipers last year, and the congregation is printing extra bulletins this year in anticipation of up to 1,200 people. “My sense is that more people are coming to church seeking peace and centering,” the dean said. “Folks are feeling unsettled in general, because of our broader context, and are coming seeking a sense of connection to God and one another and a sense of grounding in something that is deeper than the current circumstances.” She specifically cited escalating tensions related to American politics. The Rev. Amanda Gerken-Nelson said she senses a similar yearning for spiritual connections among the newer worshipers attending services in Yarmouth, Maine, where she is rector of St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church. In addition to the current political climate, she wonders if renewed interest in church attendance also is related to what has been described as a loneliness epidemic in the United States. “When I get together with the ecumenical clergy, all of us are experiencing growth in some way,” Gerken-Nelson said. Average attendance now ranges from 75 to 85 at St. Bartholomew’s single Sunday service. Last Easter, congregational leaders were surprised when the celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection drew about 180 worshippers. “We weren’t prepared for the crowd that came,” Gerken-Nelson said. “Our ushers were setting up folding chairs, to the point that I got nervous that they would be blocking some egresses.” Last Christmas, turnout reached about 250, and for this Easter, the church is planning for up to 200 worshippers. Gerken-Nelson also insisted that those visitors who may only come once or twice a year are just as welcome as those who worship every Sunday. “There is an aspect of our faith that recognizes that it is a practice, that faith is deepened with practice,” she said. “And I think that also, as a church, it does no good to demean the faithful practices of people who may only come on Christmas or Easter.” Picken, the rector in Rochester, said Easter can be an opportunity to share the Gospel’s uplifting message – hope over despair – to people who might not always be in the pews to hear it on other Sundays. “Especially in this time, it’s important to convey the sense of new life, the sense of hope and the sense of joy, in a world where we’re not really seeing that,” he said. Picken also underscored that planning the Easter celebration is a collaborative effort, not just the work of the priest. “A lot of attention gets paid to the ‘busyness’ of clergy,” he said. “I think sometimes that overshadows the hard work of the lay staff and the many volunteer parishioners, especially our altar guild and musicians who put in a lot of time during Holy Week.” In addition to Easter, Episcopal clergy, church staff and volunteers are planning for expanded schedules of Holy Week […]

[Anglican Communion News Service] This Easter, the Anglican Communion is one of 12 Christian World Communions to issue a letter marking a joint celebration of Easter 2025 and the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea. ‘You are witnesses of these things.’ Luke 24:48 Dear brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world, Alleluia! Christ is risen! As representatives of 12 Christian World Communions, present in every nation on earth, we are moved and grateful to speak with one voice and one heart about our Lord’s resurrection, which we have witnessed and profess together. Together, from East and West, North and South, in this year of our Lord 2025, we have been given by God the great gift of a shared date of Easter. Devout Christians have prayed for generations that this may be possible. Though we have not yet achieved agreement on the date of Easter in perpetuity, we have no doubt that the Lord calls us to agreement, and unified witness, so that the world may believe (John 17:21). As a further summons, God in his mercy has enabled us this year to mark the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea and its Creed. We are humbled and amazed that we can, on this Easter, profess together the fact that: On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. In the light of these gifts, we call upon the Holy Spirit to move our Communions to live and walk together, in obedience to the call of Jesus’ that all his disciples may be one. We hope to hear his ‘words’ anew, just as when he appeared to his disciples after his resurrection and ‘opened their minds to understand the scriptures,’ namely, that the Messiah must suffer and rise, ‘and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations’ (Luke 24:44-47). At this time of great political instability in the world, when so many live with fear, suffering, persecution, famine, and other forms of instability and vulnerability, we would seek together to be ‘witnesses of these things’ of God, accomplished by our Lord and Saviour (24:48). For this purpose, we pray over and over again with eager expectation and hope that we may all be one, ‘clothed with power from on high’ (24:49). May the Lord grant us his Spirit of cooperation and obedience, forgive us our sins, and use us as his instruments of reconciliation and healing in the world. And may God bathe our hearts and minds in the cleansing light of his resurrection from the dead. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! List of Signatories The Very Revd Fr Hrant Tahanian Ecumenical Officer Armenian Apostolic Church, Holy See of Cilicia The Right Revd Anthony Poggo Secretary General Anglican Communion The Revd Elijah Brown General Secretary & CEO Baptist World Alliance Tina Bruner General Secretary and Executive Director Christian Church and Churches of Christ Bishop Maximos of Melitene Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain Ecumenical Patriarchate The Revd Christoph Amstad Schuler Ecumenical Officer International Old Catholic Bishop’s Conference/Old Catholic Church The Revd Anne Burghardt General Secretary Lutheran World Federation The Revd Jørgen Bøytler Unity Board Administrator Moravian Church Worldwide Unity Board The Revd César García General Secretary Mennonite World Conference The Revd David Wells Vice-Chair Pentecostal World Fellowship Commissioner Jane Paone Secretary for International Ecumenical Relations The Salvation Army The Revd Reynaldo Ferreira Leão Neto General Secretary World Methodist Council

[Faith & Leadership] On any given Friday or Saturday, when many churches might be empty, a steady stream of visitors heads to Holy Family Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas. Despite the bell tower and steel cross above the entry, guests may not initially realize they are in a house of worship. “Some people still enter and don’t know it’s a church,” said Chap Edmonson, Holy Family’s ministry operations director. That’s because these visitors are looking for art, and they’ve come to the right place as they enter the Lanecia A. Rouse Gallery. Inside, an attendant offers a guest book and materials about the current show. To the left, a bright, airy space is carefully curated with art. Narrow windows illuminate the gallery’s white walls and polished concrete floors. The nave rests just behind the welcome desk — and, as Edmonson explained — sometimes visitors, only after poking their heads through and seeing the waiting pews, ask if they are in a church. “It happens all the time,” he said, smiling. “And it’s really cool.” Edmonson encourages them to tour the building, since the artwork does not end with the gallery. Nine large abstract paintings by Rouse, the gallery’s namesake and the church’s artist-in-residence, grace the sanctuary, back hall and offices. The paintings were commissioned by the vicar, the Rev. Jacob Breeze, before there were walls for hanging them, when the congregation was just being planted and members met in living rooms to shape a vision. The goal was to create “a church for people without a church.” Read the full story here.

[Episcopal News Service] Between September and June, the Rev. Kimberlee Auletta and the Rev. Sarah Kooperkamp, co-rectors of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Brooklyn, New York, begin most Sundays channeling their inner Fred Rogers and Shari Lewis with a puppet show that’s also a toddler-oriented worship service. On Wednesdays, they lead a mixed-age after-school Christian education program. These youth-oriented ministries have helped transform the parish into a growing church home for families in the borough’s Windsor Terrace neighborhood. “We understand that most kids in a lot of places – not just in New York City – are not coming to church every weekend because of sports and art classes and other activities, and many parents lament that their children don’t have time for Sunday school. But we realized that maybe we’re not supposed to compete with sports,” Auletta told Episcopal News Service. “Maybe, instead, we can offer church at another time to meet these youth where they are and give families what they need to provide a really deep spiritual and religious foundation for our youth.” Auletta and Kooperkamp launched the after-school program during the 2022-23 school year for students in kindergarten through seventh grade. Eleven students are participating this year. Unlike the drop-in Sunday school program, which takes place during the 10 a.m. worship service and includes eighth graders, the after-school program is a yearlong commitment that requires a small fee. Every Wednesday at 2:35 p.m., Kooperkamp walks five minutes from Holy Apostles to the elementary and middle schools to pick up the students. On their way back to church, the students run around a playground for a few minutes to let out some energy; screen-free learning begins once they get to church. “The kids are so excited and happy to be together, and I really enjoy meeting them right after school and hearing them talk about their day,” Kooperkamp said. “It’s really sweet that they’re learning and growing together.” The after-school curriculum includes Bible study, prayer, Christian ethics, church history and theology. Students learn through art projects, self-reflection, discussion and theater. They’re also encouraged to ask questions. They don’t use computers, phones or tablets while in the after-school program. Last year, during the unit on saints, students created a March Madness-like bracket to vote for the “patron saint of the after-school program.” The unanimous winner was St. Frances Perkins, a workers’ rights advocate and devout Episcopalian who served as secretary of labor in President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s cabinet from 1933 to 1945. Perkins was the first woman appointed to a presidential cabinet and remains the longest-serving Secretary of Labor in U.S. history. She was added to The Episcopal Church’s calendar of lesser feasts and fasts in 2022; her feast day is May 13. “The students’ basis of argument was that Frances Perkins had worked to end child labor, and if it weren’t for her, they wouldn’t be at church after school, but would instead be working in factories,” Kooperkamp said. “This project is an example of how these kids can really learn interactively and not stick to standard Q&A and test taking.”  The curriculum is designed to be a three-year cycle for students, though Auletta and Kooperkamp are discussing potential opportunities for older students who complete the cycle, such as leadership roles. While Kooperkamp works with the students, Auletta and a volunteer member of Holy Apostles cook a community meal for up to 36 people who sign up ahead of time. When the after-school program ends at 5:15, most students and their families stay for dinner, which is served at 5:30 in the undercroft. Children eat free and adults pay $10, which covers the cost of ingredients. Evening prayer takes place after dinner. “People really need to be with each other, and weekly dinner and prayer is a way to do that,” Auletta said. “And it’s multi-generational. We have a wonderful parishioner who’s 81 years old who comes to Wednesday dinners and sits with the kids, and they love her.” Toddlers are also part of Holy Apostles’ family-oriented ministries. Every Sunday except the fifth Sunday of the month throughout the school year, the church offers This Little Light at 8:30 a.m., a 30-minute interactive worship service that teaches the core elements of Episcopal liturgy, the Gospel and the Eucharist through singing and storytelling. The music and prayers are the same as a traditional worship service, which helps the toddlers easily transition to the “big kid” service. During the puppet show portion of This Little Light, Auletta stands behind a puppet castelet and plays a sock puppet named Perpetua who asks Kooperkamp questions about faith and Jesus. Kooperkamp tells Perpetua, “It’s OK; don’t be afraid. Here’s the good news,” before sharing a story about Jesus. “We just need a trolley for the puppet show,” Auletta said. Even though This Little Light’s programming focuses on children up to age 6, the co-rectors said they hope the lessons resonate with all ages. They also said that feedback from parents has been positive, and their children repeat what they learn at home. One family reported that their daughter breaks bread every night at dinner and says, “This is my body.” “This is not just child’s worship; it’s really family worship and a way to think about what it means to live together as a family and as a community,” Kooperkamp said. The co-rectors both said adapting their ministries to serve families with busy schedules has been “a lot of work,” but over the years, it’s helped grow the congregation and the families spiritually. “We can engage families, people of all ages. People who go to church want spiritual growth, whether they are 3 years old or they’re over 50 years old,” Auletta said. “We’re trying to be very intentional with what we are presenting and offering to folks of all ages.” -Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

[Scottish Episcopal Church] On April 11, staff from the General Synod Office of the Scottish Episcopal Church called at the offices of The Turing Trust to make a donation of information technology (IT) equipment that will help empower disadvantaged communities in Africa, Asia and the United Kingdom. In honor of the altruistic spirit of Alan Turing, the highly influential mathematician and computer scientist, the trust refurbishes IT equipment, installs a range of educational software, and equips schools across the world. Turing is widely regarded as the father of modern computing, and he saw IT as a tool for solving immense challenges. He also had a passion for helping others – he funded one member of his foster family to work in Africa and sponsored a Jewish refugee’s schooling during World War II. In the last 15 years, the trust has enabled access to computers for over 252,000 students across Africa, Asia and the U.K. Its website says, “With your help and a great deal of hard work, we believe that one day every child will be able to enjoy the transformative power of technology that Alan envisioned.” A recent review of IT equipment at the General Synod Office led to items being upgraded, and the “old”’ equipment was handed over to the trust at its offices in Loanhead near Edinburgh by Patricia Krus, chief operating officer, and Ross Hunter, IT support assistant. Paul Rayner of the trust’s donations team said, “Thanks to your donation, 216 students will be able to learn vital IT skills. Beyond this, the environmental impact from your donation will offset three tons of CO2 emissions, which is the equivalent of planting eight trees. The embodied energy savings created are also enough to power one U.K. home for an entire year!” More information about the work of The Turing Trust can be found here.

[Anglican Communion News Service] The Most Rev. Stephen Cottrell, archbishop of York, addressed reparatory justice and institutional accountability regarding the historic financial ties of the Church of England and the slave trade at a special April 14 gathering in New York. As part of the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, the event was hosted by representatives from the Anglican Communion and Kenya, with high-level panel participation from Barbados, Jamaica and Ghana. The gathering focused on reparatory justice and institutional accountability regarding the Church of England. Opening the event, June Soomer, chair of the permanent forum and member of the St. Lucia Reparations Committee, underscored the urgent need for institutions to make commitments towards reparatory justice. Cottrell, followed with his address, beginning with a Ghanaian proverb: “Until the lion has told his story, the hunter will always be the hero.” He acknowledged the church’s historic complicity in the horrors of the slave trade and emphasized the moral and spiritual imperative of truth-telling, accountability and healing. “The church is committed to creating a space for truth-telling, reflection and accountability,” he said. “Inspired and motivated by the vision of a new humanity that God gives us in Jesus Christ, we acknowledge the moral responsibility we carry in the present for the failings of the past, particularly in light of the wealth handed down through generations. Our hope is that the work we are doing—to repair, to heal and to pursue justice – demonstrates how Christian faith can bring about real change in the world. As we pursue an ongoing, living process of listening, learning and acting, we also hope it encourages others to reflect on their own histories and responsibilities.” In 2019, the Church Commissioners, who manage the Church of England’s historic endowment, began a comprehensive investigation into the church’s financial and institutional links to slavery. The findings were sobering – investments in the South Sea Company, profits derived from the slave trade, and disturbing artifacts like “slave Bibles” with scriptures deliberately stripped of themes of liberation. In response, the church committed £100 million – $132 million toward a long-term impact investment fund, a grant program and a research initiative, governed by an independent oversight group. This effort, chaired by the Rt. Rev. Rosemarie Mallett, bishop of Croydon, includes descendant communities, historians and representatives of populations still affected by the legacy of slavery. At the U.N .event, Mallett also contributed to the panel discussion, featuring David Comissiong, Barbados’ ambassador to the Caribbean community and deputy chair of the National Task Force on Reparations; Ambassador Brian Wallace, permanent representative of Jamaica to the U.N.; Ambassador Harold Agyeman, permanent representative of Ghana; and Ambassador Yabesh Monari, deputy permanent representative of Kenya. “The dialogue at the U.N. represents a new phase of engagement and commitment from the Church of England,” said Mallett, “one rooted in the hope that – even after deep historical failure – reconciliation and justice are still possible.” While public apologies had already been issued by both the archbishop of Canterbury and the Church Commissioners, church leaders acknowledge that apology alone is not enough. The church is now engaged in a long-term journey of what it describes as “penitence, partnership and purpose.” Speaking about the Church of England’s connection to African chattel and reparation, the archbishop of York said, “I, we in the Church of England, have been humbled by the truth” regarding the investigation into the historic endowment fund that was linked to the legacy of slavery. He confirmed that the investigation “discovered other horrifying things along the way. Unanswered letters. A so-called ‘slave Bible’ with all mentions of liberation and the whole Book of Exodus missing. We discovered details of the mundane and bureaucratic normalization of evil, when it is enacted on such a scale, and for so many years. And how we, the hunters, were deaf to the cries of the oppressed.” “Jesus famously said that the truth will set you free,” Cottrell observed. “There is an irony here. The scriptures and traditions of the church that were twisted to legitimize enslavement, and also, when they could be read in full, provided narratives of liberation and resistance which gave enslaved people hope.” Cottrell stated his understanding of hopes of the Church of England in engaging with accountability and reparation where possible. “Because we exploited and bought and sold our own sisters and brothers, we, too, need to be liberated from our failings. We need to do this by being honest and penitent about what happened and then determined to build a better world. We want to work purposefully and collaboratively with others, such as our friends and colleagues from Kenya and Barbados, with whom we share the sponsorship of this event. And Jamaica and Ghana. And sisters and brothers across the world.” “We don’t have the answers,” he said, “but we believe we are, at last, asking the right questions. […] We know that we have much to learn. “I am here as a leader in the church that was involved in a most shameful, scandalous abuse and oppression of fellow human beings. It is deeply uncomfortable, because slavery still exists in our world today. […] But sisters and brothers, it is also deeply hopeful, because the scriptures and the example of Christ and those narratives of liberation that inspired enslaved people, inspire me and give us hope for our world and hope that we can do better.” Cottrell then observed that many other institutions, organizations, governments and individuals also may have profited from the “evil trade” and invited them to investigate as the Church the England has done. He then closed the address saying, “It is in that spirit that I come to you today, believing that a better future is possible, believing that the truth can set us free. Believing that it is possible to find reconciliation even after deep, dark failure.” To close this time of reflection, attendees will gather in prayer at the Ark […]

[Episcopal News Service] The Rt. Rev. Bruce Caldwell, who served as bishop of Wyoming from 1997–2010, died on April 13. He was 77. Caldwell, a 1978 graduate of General Theological Seminary, was rector of St. George’s Church, in Bismarck, North Dakota, when he was elected bishop. Shortly after he became bishop, Caldwell was asked to preside at the funeral at St. Mark’s in Casper, Wyoming, of a young man who had served as an acolyte in the diocese and was active in its campus ministry – Matthew Shepard. Shepard was tortured and murdered near Laramie in 1998 in a hate crime because he was gay. At an event that took place during the 2009 General Convention, Caldwell spoke in favor of “full inclusion for the LGBT community” in the life of The Episcopal Church, noting the impact Shepard’s funeral had on him. After he retired, he served as the interim dean of St. Mark’s Cathedral, Minneapolis, Minnesota, as assisting bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of New York and as bishop provisional of the Diocese of Lexington. His wife, the Rev. Brenda Caldwell, died in 2023. He is survived by daughters Kela and Morgan and granddaughter Lydia. Final details of his funeral, which is expected to take place at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Minneapolis, are pending.

[Episcopal News Service] Anglicans and other global faith leaders have condemned Israeli airstrikes over the weekend that struck an Anglican hospital in the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza, destroying or damaging several of the hospital’s departments. Al Ahli Arab Hospital, a ministry of the Diocese of Jerusalem, had been struck several times previously by blasts in the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas since Hamas attacked Israeli communities and massacred hundreds on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel responded to that Hamas attack with an intense and prolonged aerial bombardment and ground invasion of the densely populated territory – strikes that have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and left much of Gaza in ruins. The latest blasts at Ahli Hospital involved two airstrikes early April 13, according to the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, AFEDJ. The attack destroyed a two-story genetic laboratory and severely damaged the pharmacy, the emergency department and nearby buildings, including St. Phillip’s Church. The hospital has been described in international news reports as the last fully functioning hospital in northern Gaza. No casualties were reported from the blasts at the hospital, though the diocese reported that during the evacuation of the hospital, a child died while suffering from a previous head injury. “The Diocese of Jerusalem condemns in the strongest terms today’s missile attacks on the Ahli Arab Hospital,” the diocese said in a written statement, adding that it was “appalled at the bombing of the hospital now for the fifth time since the beginning of the war in 2023 – and this time on the morning of Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week.” “We call upon all governments and people of goodwill to intervene to stop all kinds of attacks on medical and humanitarian institutions. We pray and call for the end of this horrific war and the suffering of so many.” Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell released a statement lamenting the “unimaginable suffering” endured by the Palestinians who have been forced to seek treatment at Ahli Hospital. “For the only Christian hospital in Gaza to be attacked on Palm Sunday is especially appalling,” Cottrell said. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem also condemned the attack. “Sorrow grips us this Palm Sunday: A refuge of healing is struck in the land of the heavenly physician of souls and bodies,” the Patriarchate said. Israel and Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire in January, which included the release of some of the hostages taken by Hamas during its initial attack on Israel. That ceasefire, however, fell apart in March, and Israel resumed airstrikes. U.S. officials have since been working with Arab leaders to restart ceasefire talks to again halt hostilities. Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe released a statement after the attack, asking for prayers for the hospital staff and their patients. “No matter how we understand the causes of violence in the Holy Land, we can surely agree that we must support our fellow Anglicans in alleviating the devastating humanitarian crisis now unfolding in Gaza,” Rowe said. Rowe also encouraged Episcopalians to give generously to the Good Friday Offering, the church’s annual collection in support of the Diocese of Jerusalem and the other dioceses that make up the Anglican Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East. Gifts can be made online or in congregations’ collection plates on April 18. Episcopalians also can write to their representatives in Congress, asking them to support a permanent ceasefire, humanitarian aid for Gaza and a just and sustained peace in the Holy Land, Rowe said. He shared resources provided by the church’s Washington, D.C.-based Office of Government Relations. – 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] A federal judge has refused to grant a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration that was requested by The Episcopal Church and a coalition of interfaith plaintiffs in their lawsuit seeking to block immigration enforcement actions at houses of worship. Judge Dabney Friedrich of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., issued her decision April 11, a week after hearing arguments by attorneys for the religious groups and the Trump administration. The Episcopal Church was joined by 26 other plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including Protestant and Jewish groups, in warning that changes in immigration policy were sowing fear in the communities they serve. The nonpartisan Georgetown University Law Center, in arguing the case on behalf of the religious groups, specifically objected to policy changes under President Donald Trump that ended past protections against immigration enforcement actions at houses of worship and other “sensitive locations,” such as schools and hospitals. Friedrich concluded that the plaintiffs had not demonstrated that the new administration was actively targeting immigrants for detention and possible deportation at houses of worship. She also expressed skepticism that any decreased participation in worship services or ministries was related directly to the end of U.S. Immigration and Customers Enforcement’s “sensitive locations” protections. “Evidence suggests that congregants are staying home to avoid encountering ICE in their own neighborhoods, not because churches or synagogues are locations of elevated risk,” she wrote in her decision. The plaintiffs now are considering their next steps in the case. “We are currently reviewing the decision and are assessing our options,” Kelsi Corkran, the plaintiffs’ lead attorney, said in a written statement. “We remain gravely concerned about the impacts of this policy and are committed to protecting foundational rights enshrined in the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.” During his campaign, Trump had vowed to oversee mass deportations of millions of people living in the United States without permanent legal residency status. He began pursuing policies to follow through on that promise in the hours after his Jan. 20 inauguration to a second term, with a series of executive orders related to immigration. The next day, Homeland Security ended Biden administration policies that had identified certain sensitive areas as protected from immigration enforcement actions. The Episcopal Church is one of 12 denominations that have signed onto the lawsuit, which also includes the Disciples of Christ, Mennonite, Methodist, Presbyterian and AME Zion churches. Other plaintiffs include regional denominational bodies and other religious associations. The plaintiffs’ 80-page complaint, filed Feb. 11, includes short summaries of ways they say the government’s policies have burdened the faith organizations’ practice of their religions.

[Anglican Communion News Service] Anglican and Lutheran church leaders from around the world gathered in Amman, Jordan, for the first full meeting of the Anglican–Lutheran International Commission for Unity and Mission. Under the theme “Our baptismal unity,” participants reflected on their shared identity in Christ, built deeper relationships, and committed to a variety of catechetical, evangelical and missiological projects during the March 29–April 2 meeting.. ALICUM was established in 2018 by the Lutheran World Federation Council and the Anglican Communion’s Standing Committee as a new commission, built on the foundation of decades of agreements between Anglicans and Lutherans. In several parts of the world, Anglican and Lutheran churches are in relationships of full communion. Like the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission, ALICUM pairs Anglican and Lutheran bishops and leaders with one another from various countries around the world in order to pursues shared teaching, evangelization and mission. This inaugural gathering of the full commission brought together ALICUM pairs from Cameroon, Colombia, the Holy Land, Malaysia, Tanzania, the United States and the Porvoo Communion (which included representatives from Ireland, Scotland, Finland and Germany). While the members from Canada and Hong Kong were unable to attend in person, they remain involved in the work. During the five-day summit, commission members worshipped together and engaged in theological discussions on baptismal ecclesiology and existing communion agreements. The members also undertook a pilgrimage to key biblical sites, including the Jordan River, where they renewed their baptismal vows; Mount Nebo, traditionally regarded as the place of Moses’ death; and the ancient mosaic map of the Holy Land in Madaba. Commission members shared stories of collaboration in theological education, evangelism and discipleship, public theology, youth work, and care for marginalized communities. These stories, and associated plans, demonstrated the creativity and energy of Anglican-Lutheran collaboration around the world. The commission also addressed practical challenges of teaching and sharing the faith in circumstances that range from decline and secularization to rapid growth and persecution. Members were amazed and grateful to hear stories of multiplying churches in contexts where Christians are minorities and lack material resources. The commission also explored how various agreements of full communion relate to one another and may be adopted more formally by churches in the Global South. The commission’s reflections on baptism raised questions about the place of confirmation and the Eucharist in the initiation and formation of Christians. The summit concluded with a commissioning service at the Evangelical Lutheran Good Shepherd Church in Amman. Participants expressed deep gratitude for the hospitality of their Jordanian Christian hosts and pledged to stand in solidarity with churches in the Holy Land. The Rev. Dirk Lange, the Lutheran World Federation assistant general secretary for ecumenical relations and the co-secretary of ALICUM, said the meeting “proved to be extremely rich, as the church leaders spent time bonding over shared worship and pilgrimage. New initiatives and joint projects were discussed, exploring ways of implementing the many ecumenical consensus statements and full communion agreements already reached by Anglicans and Lutherans.” Christopher Wells, director of unity, faith and order at the Anglican Communion Office said, “Lutheran and Anglican commitments to bear witness together to the one faith and one Lord serve as a summons for the whole church to give ourselves over to one another fully. We pray that all the Christian World Communions may catch fire in the power of the Spirit to profess the one faith and to share the Good News more surely with the waiting world.” The ALICUM steering committee will mentor the pairs of church leaders as they put their projects into action over the next three years. The entire commission will meet annually online and plans to hold a second in-person summit in 2028. The full communique from the meeting, along with a list of participants and outcomes, is available here.

[Anglican Church of Canada] The Rev. James Spencer has been building with Lego since he was eight years old. Today, that lifelong hobby is getting his parish, St. Mary’s Anglican Church with buildings in Clarenville and Burgoyne’s Cove, Newfoundland, Canada, noticed online – and forming the heart of a new ministry to local children.  Over the last year, Spencer has been building a pair of Lego models of the Clarenville and Burgoyne’s Cove church buildings—built at the scale of one Lego “stud” (the basic unit of Lego blocks, demarcated by one of the nubs that let the bricks interlock) to one foot.  “I started collecting all the bricks I’d need and I did some measurements in the churches and worked out everything and started building,” he says. “It’s taken a year and a fair number of Lego orders to get all the pieces I needed, but I think it came out more or less as I was hoping it would.” His creations measure around one foot by two feet in width, he says, and replicate everything from the churches’ accessibility ramps to their stained-glass windows, with minifigure parishioners in the pews. He started the models as a way to say thank you to the two churches in the parish for the warm welcome their congregants had given him in his first year of ministry. And when they were finished, the reaction was bigger than he could have expected.   “I wanted to do it as something that they could have in their church they would enjoy. And it’s talked about everywhere. I rarely run into someone who doesn’t mention it to me. It’s spread all over Facebook,” he says. “And it’s getting attention to the church that, well, the church is enjoying because you know how it is these days – sometimes the church kind of gets lost in the background.”  Spencer is also reaching out to make the church a presence in people’s lives through a new Lego outreach ministry at the church. Organizers have been building up a collection of bricks donated by parishioners and community members until they had critical mass to start the program, which involves local children coming by the church to build for fun and the occasional challenge project. There’s no overtly religious element, says Spencer, who also runs a Dungeons and Dragons game for some kids at the local middle school. But it doesn’t have to be overtly religious to be a valuable form of outreach.  “I’m a big believer that the church needs to connect with our young people without necessarily always throwing Scripture at them,” he says. “I’ve got a group of kids at the Dungeons and Dragons event, at the Lego who, later on in their life, no matter what they hear people [saying] about the church, any negative things, they’ll look back and say ‘Yeah, I remember people from my church. Reverend James would come and play Dungeons and Dragons with me. He seemed like a nice guy.’”  If the church starts by being a positive presence in their young lives, he believes, that will pay off in the form of better relations in the long run. He currently has about a dozen kids coming to the Lego ministry, which began in late March, and a rotating group of eight or nine players in his Dungeons and Dragons game.  In the meantime, building models of the parish’s churches has become a way of drawing attention from outside the bigger versions’ walls.   “The Anglican church has spent an awful long time stuck in our buildings, dreaming of the days when people came to the buildings out of, well, basically out of expectation and tradition. And those days are over. We need to be out in the community. I’d rather people see my church everywhere else and just sometimes in our building.”

[Episcopal News Service] The American flag still has a place at Calvary Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Missouri, but under new guidance from the bishop, that place is no longer near the church’s altar. Calvary is located near the Mississippi River in the northeastern Missouri community of Louisiana, population 3,200. Last month, during a Sunday service, the small congregation ceremoniously moved its American flag from the front next to the altar to the back of the nave, where it now is posted beside a columbarium, partly in honor of veterans who are interred there. “People felt like it was the right thing to do and the right time to do it, and it was done with no disrespect,” the Rev. Deb Goldfeder, deacon-in-charge at Calvary, told Episcopal News Service in a phone interview. Missouri Bishop Deon Johnson had issued his guidance on flag display days earlier in a message to his St. Louis-based diocese on March 19. In it he lamented the pernicious rise in the United States of Christian nationalism, a politicized distortion of Christianity that was most prominently on display in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Donald Trump supporters. The House of Bishop’s Theology Committee released a report in October on “The Crisis of Christian Nationalism,” urging all Episcopalians to do their part in countering such movements. Johnson referenced that report in announcing his guidance to Diocese of Missouri congregations to remove American flags from their altars. “Rooted in a conflation of faith and national identity, this ideological movement distorts the Gospel of Jesus, misusing Christianity to justify division, exclusion, inequality, racism and supremacy,” Johnson said. “This ideology further demands that laws, culture and public policies be based on a distorted interpretation of the Gospel that elevates power and control over love. These ideologies are in direct contradiction with our faith.” Johnson acknowledged that the flag can be “a symbol of national unity which honors the hard-fought freedoms won by brave women and men who willingly sacrificed for its purpose and the cause of peace.” At the same time, to conflate the flag with the cross – the Christian symbol of hope in Jesus’ resurrection – “intentionally blurs the division between our faith in a loving, liberating and life-giving God and national pride.” His guidance directs clergy and congregations “to contextualize the flag by properly placing it outside the altar area and next to rolls of honor, books of remembrance, or service memorials to those who served.” The House of Bishops’ report on Christian nationalism does not specifically advise moving American flags from altars, though it offers a range of other suggestions for responding to the crisis. “This challenge is not new or particular to this day and age,” the report says. “In the early church, gentiles had to renounce their allegiance and their participation in the Roman army when they became Christians. Each generation must explore and renew its understanding of life in Christ in its moment in history.” The full 128-page report, in English and Spanish, is available for purchase from Church Publishing. Former Presiding Bishop Michael Curry had asked the House of Bishops Theology Committee to study the issue in 2022, and Curry wrote a foreword for the published report. Christian nationalism “threatens our country’s soul,” Curry said in the foreword. “It is because we love God and it is because we love our country that we want to respond in ways that are healthy, holy, and true.” The report is one of the latest examples of The Episcopal Church’s ongoing response to the increasing threat of Christian nationalism. The church’s Executive Council, meeting in January 2021, less than three weeks after the Jan. 6 riot, passed a resolution committing the church to “deradicalization” efforts. The measure asked the church’s Office of Government Relations and Office for Ecumenical and Inter-religious Relations “to develop a plan for The Episcopal Church’s holistic response to Christian nationalism and violent white supremacy.” Curry, participating in a webinar on the topic later that month, called Christian nationalism “absolutely a threat to a pluralistic, democratic society, and something that needs to be wrestled with in order to move forward and not repeat the events of Jan. 6.” He and other leaders have continued to speak out on the issue in the ensuing years. The 81st General Convention adopted a resolution in June 2024 urging Episcopalians to educate and equip themselves for action in response to “the urgent, troubling, and deeply rooted issue of religious nationalism, the intersection of religious extremism and nationalist ideologies, both domestically and globally.” And last month, at the latest meeting of the House of Bishops, Atlanta Bishop Robert Wright spoke forcefully against Christian nationalism as “demonic.” “Christian nationalism is not an imperfect or evolving rendering of Jesus’ life and teachings, neither should it be characterized as simply a difference of theological or political interpretation or emphasis. Christian nationalism is a deceitful rendering of Jesus’ teaching for the purpose of manipulation and the increase of mammon,” Wright said, according to his notes provided to ENS. “This is not a fringe movement as the data shows. This is a deeply embedded, well-funded, strategic, compellingly argued appeal.” Johnson’s emphasis on flag placement in his Diocese of Missouri congregations raises what may be a sensitive issue at congregations across The Episcopal Church where American flags can sometimes be found posted on altars, either separately or alongside Episcopal Church flags. Spokane Bishop Gretchen Rehberg, in a personal reflection included in the “Crisis of Christian Nationalism” report, offered her own perspectives on this question. “A simple example of our perhaps inadvertent complicity in Christian nationalism is having a U.S. flag in our churches,” Rehberg said. “I have been clear that I do not believe that flags belong in churches, but I have not forbidden them. The diocese will also need to be willing to accept increased losses in our membership when those who are […]

[Episcopal News Service] On Palm Sunday, April 13, All Saints Episcopal Church in Chicago, Illinois, will lead a procession through the Ravenswood neighborhood after its 11 a.m. Central worship service to bring attention to migrants who’ve been arrested and are being illegally detained in El Salvador and Louisiana. Many have disappeared from the U.S. detainee tracking system. The Rev. Courtney Reid, associate rector of All Saints, told Episcopal News Service that the post-worship procession is in line with the message of Palm Sunday, when the Galileans greeted Jesus as he entered Jerusalem with shouts of “Hosanna,” a word originating from Hebrew meaning “save us.” “Regardless if there are reasons that someone should be deported for a crime they’ve committed, treating people as if they aren’t human is absolutely antithetical to the Gospel, and yet that is what our government is doing, and our political leaders aren’t standing against it,” Reid said. Last month – under the Alien Enemies Act, a law not invoked since World War II – the United States sent 238 Venezuelan migrants to a maximum-security prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, under a “renewable” one-year agreement with the Salvadoran government. The Trump administration alleges the 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. Documents show that about 90% of the incarcerated migrants had no U.S. criminal record. Moving the migrants to a prison in another country without due process has also sparked outcry from relatives, lawyers and immigration advocates. The prison, the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, has been criticized for alleged human rights abuses since it opened in 2023. CECOT allegedly denies inmates communication with family and lawyers, and inmates are permitted just 30 minutes a day to leave their cell, according to Human Rights Watch, an international nongovernmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The inmates also supposedly sleep on metal beds in overcrowded, windowless cells. “It’s such a breach of humanity; the level of dehumanization is obscene and immoral,” Reid said. Many immigrants who are legally in the United States with visas or green cards have also been arrested and have been deported or face deportation, including Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University in Massachusetts, and Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian lawful permanent U.S. resident. Both are being detained in Louisiana. “When the image of God – a human being – is being violated, Christians must say something about that if we truly believe in the dignity of every human being,” the Rev. Suzanne Wille, rector of All Saints, told ENS. “Christians cannot be silent about what’s going on in our world.” During the post-worship procession, parishioners will carry signs protesting the migrants’ imprisonment. Some banners will include photos of Öztürk and Khalil, as well as Neri Jose Alvarado Borges and Andry Hernandez Romero. Alvarado Borges was sent to CECOT because the U.S. government alleges that his many tattoos are proof that he’s affiliated with Tren de Aragua. Hernandez Romero, a gay makeup artist, was sent to CECOT while his asylum case was pending, also for his tattoos allegedly representing Tren de Aragua affiliation. The other banners will include photos of anonymous women who, according to The New York Times, are at risk of dying from the Trump administration’s foreign aid freeze, and photos of anonymous CECOT prisoners being pushed down and frog-marched in their cells. “None of these people can reach their lawyers or loved ones,” Wille said. “It’s like our government is trying to make them disappear and wipe them from our consciousness.” On April 5, Reid and a group of parishioners gathered at Daley Plaza with more than 30,000 other people for Chicago’s “Hands Off” protest. “Hands Off” is an ongoing series of demonstrations held so far in every U.S. state and some European cities to protest the Trump administration’s policies and billionaire Elon Musk’s involvement in significantly downsizing the federal government. Coming off the same “energy” from “Hands Off,” Reid said, the plan for the Palm Sunday processional is to publicly walk outside of residential spaces to ensure that as many people as possible read the signs protesting migrant imprisonment. Jacob Farmer, a parishioner at All Saints who participated in “Hands Off,” told ENS he plans to participate in the Palm Sunday procession with the same goals for justice in mind. “I believe that it’s important as community members and as Christians to show up and demonstrate that we care about what’s going on, and that we do not agree with the current administration’s actions,” he said in a text message. Wille said the mistreatment of migrants reminds her of when she was in seminary 20 years ago, when the dean asked, “Where were the Christians?” when it was brought to widespread public attention in 2004 that the U.S. Army and CIA were torturing detainees at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq during the Iraq War. “That question has haunted me for 20 years,” Wille said. “Where were the Christians speaking out against Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay then, and where are the Christians today now that we’re sending migrants to Guantánamo Bay as well as El Salvador and Louisiana? There’s power in speaking up.” -Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.