Episcopal News Service

Applauding the ceremonial burning of $3 million in medical debt at a March 10 service at St. Luke’s, Lebanon, Pennsylvania are (from left) Rob Gokey, former outreach chair at Hope Episcopal Church in Manheim, Pennsylvania; Bethlehem Bishop Kevin Nichols; Central Pennsylvania Bishop Audrey Scanlan; Hope Episcopal Church rector the Rev. Bradley Mattson; and Mattson’s daughter, Elizabeth. Photo: Steve Doster

[Episcopal News Service] The leaders of two Pennsylvania dioceses – Central Pennsylvania Bishop Audrey Scanlan and Bethlehem Bishop Kevin Nichols – on March 10 celebrated the efforts of the Help, Healing and Hope initiative, through which churches from both dioceses raised $30,000 to eliminate $3 million in medical debts of fellow Pennsylvanians.

During an Evensong service at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, the two bishops joined the congregation as sheets of paper representing medical bills were set aflame in a metal bucket.

“Things like taking care of medical debts … is not merely social work, it’s the work of God,” the Rev. David Zwifka, St. Luke’s rector, said in his sermon. People are liberated when the crush of medical debt is removed from their lives, he said, calling this “the very work of Jesus.”

The dioceses were able to alleviate the burden of medical debt in their communities through RIP Medical Debt, a charity that has partnered with numerous Episcopal churches in recent years. It buys outstanding medical debts from collection agencies for pennies on the dollar and helps people and organizations pay off the debts through donations.

The catalyst for the Help, Healing and Hope Initiative grew out of a medical emergency in 2022 that struck the daughter of the Rev. Bradley Mattson, rector of Hope Episcopal Church in Manheim, Pennsylvania, and the Rev. Jennifer Mattson, rector of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Elizabeth, then 5 years old, became seriously ill and nearly died before being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Bradley Mattson told ENS that even with excellent insurance, some bills that weren’t covered, including a $6,000 charge from an ambulance company that was due in 30 days. “And if you don’t or can’t pay, the debt just balloons.”

Elizabeth now is doing well, he said, thanks to a glucose monitor and insulin pump attached to her body to regulate her blood sugar. But Jennifer Mattson told ENS that the price of insulin has cost their family about $1,000 a month.

They have been able to manage their bills with financial assistance available to Pennsylvania clergy, but they started to wonder how people without good insurance could pay for such a major illness. Rob Gokey, the former outreach chair at Hope Church, told Bradley Mattson about RIP Medical Debt. The nonprofit focuses their efforts on low-income people who have limited capacity to pay their medical bills.

Since its founding in 2014, it has provided $10.4 billion in medical debt relief to more than 7 million individuals and families.

From that nonprofit, the Mattsons learned that medical debt accounts for half of all bills under collection in the United States. According to a recent report, 20 million people in the United States – nearly 1 in 12 adults – owe medical debt of more than $250 each, collectively totaling as much as $220 billion. Low- and middle-income adults and those without health insurance are more likely to have medical debt.

Bethlehem Bishop Kevin Nichols (left) tells worshipers that 10 years after a transplant, his daughter continues to get multiple calls a week from medical debt bill collectors. Listening is Central Pennsylvania Bishop Audrey Scanlan. Photo: Livestream screenshot

For those who can’t pay off their bills in full, medical providers usually sell those debts for about 1% of the total to a collection agency, which then seeks to recover the full amount from the patient, plus a fee.

For Nichols, those collection efforts hit close to home. During the March 10 service, the bishop noted that his adult daughter was a transplant recipient more than 10 years ago. He recently overheard a phone call she received from a debt collector. She told him it was one of the dozens of debt collectors who still call her each week.

“What you are doing, the lives that you are touching, the hearts that you are giving hope to, is a building of the beloved community,” he told the congregation.

Jennifer Mattson told ENS she thinks profiting off someone’s medical debt “is a sin.”

Fundraising efforts began in Advent 2022 with a goal of $2,500, and after raising that, it was increased to $5,000 and then $10,000. Other churches in the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania started to chip in, too. Zwifka, a friend of the Mattsons, got his church involved early on. St. Luke’s was started in 1858 as a mission of Hope Church, just seven miles apart, but they ended up in different dioceses when the Diocese of Bethlehem was created in 1904. The two dioceses recently have begun exploring the possibility of reunification.

Both dioceses promoted the effort, and contributions grew, ultimately bringing the total to $30,000.

The church is good at healing the sick, clothing the naked, giving the thirsty a cup of water and visiting the prisoner, Scanlan said during the service, but there are other kinds of illness, distress and disease that go unseen, including the mental anguish and suffering of medical debts.

“I’m especially proud that we have been able to make a significant difference and bring and restore people to wholeness, to alleviate the anxiety and the suffering that they are feeling,” she said.

Bradley Mattson said the initiative will officially close on Easter, and by then he thinks it will have raised closer to $35,000 or maybe even $40,000. At that point, some of the dioceses’ fellow Pennsylvanians will begin to get letters in the mail telling them their debt has been paid in full by The Episcopal Church.

He told ENS that he was delighted to have a celebration of this effort that involved both dioceses. Noting how full their schedules can be, he said, “It was wonderful to have both bishops there, especially on a Sunday in Lent.” Also present with her parents was the Mattsons’ daughter, Elizabeth, now a thriving 7-year-old.

–Melodie Woerman is a freelance reporter based in Kansas.

[Office of the Archbishop of York] The Most Rev. Stephen Cottrell, the archbishop of York, will give a keynote speech at the Church Times Festival of Faith and Music, a new venture created in partnership with the Royal School of Church Music, that will be staged for the first time at York Minster April 26-28.

The event is for clergy, music leaders, people involved in church music and anyone with a general interest in sacred music. The festival aims to be a source of celebration, inspiration, encouragement, support, learning and resource.

The festival program includes workshops and discussions on subjects as diverse as how to take a church choir into the community, using music to support church engagement with dementia, caring for a pipe organ, choosing hymns, and growing the church younger through music. A range of speakers will share their perspectives on the world of church and choral music. Festival goers will also be able to experience York Minster’s choral music tradition at special services and at Evensong during the weekend.

Read the entire article here.

[Religion News Service] Sarah Bowen says she’s been doing the work of an animal chaplain since she was 6 years old.

Raised in the Midwest as a Presbyterian preacher’s kid, she was often hauled to hospice facilities and funeral homes but noticed that the chipmunks and other animals crumpled by the side of the road weren’t treated with the same compassion shown to people.

“At a very young age, I began picking up those little animals, putting them in my lunchbox, and giving them burials in the way my father did when he was working with humans,” said Bowen, who recalls saying “May the force be with you!” after the burials.

Today, Bowen is an interfaith animal chaplain with credentials from Chicago Theological Seminary, One Spirit Interfaith Seminary and Emerson Theological Institute, and she continues to create rituals that both dignify the death of animals and empower those grieving that death, whether it’s the loss of a loyal golden retriever or the untimely death of a “feisty, beloved goat.”

“That’s one of the more powerful things I think I’ve ever witnessed in my life,” Bowen said. “That goat was originally intended for a dinner plate.”

Bowen remembers getting the call from the animal sanctuary in 2022, reporting a favorite goat had been fatally wounded in a vehicle accident. Bowen led sanctuary staff and volunteers in a ritual that involved writing letters to the goat on dissolvable paper, then dropping them in a bowl of water, “representing all of the tears that were being shed or the tears that people felt they could not shed,” said Bowen. She also held a “furry wake,” where humans gathered alongside other goats and sheep to share stories about the goat’s antics. Bowen left the group with a wind chime placed where the accident happened.

The field of animal chaplaincy — including pet and veterinary chaplaincy — is nascent but growing and involves ministering to animals, pet owners, animal care providers and entire communities affected by wildlife conflicts.

“The scale can really vary widely, but any place where there is a relationship between some number of humans and some number of animals, that is where an animal chaplain is going to work,” said Michael Skaggs, director of programs for the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab.

What started as a few individuals offering ad hoc support for people grieving pets has become an informal network of professionals, both paid and unpaid, providing spiritual support everywhere from veterinary clinics to animal shelters. Animal chaplain training programs are reporting increased enrollment year over year, as well as a growing recognition that the work they do is no joke.

“This is beyond animal blessings and pet funerals,” said Bowen. “What we’re talking about are deep systemic and existential questions about our relationships with other species.”

The definitions of animal, veterinary and pet chaplains aren’t universally agreed upon. Most often, animal chaplaincy is used as an umbrella term, and while veterinary chaplains may work in a veterinary clinic, some also use the term interchangeably with animal chaplains. Rob Gierka, who founded the Pet Chaplain organization in 2004, owns the registered trademark for the phrase “pet chaplain” and says the term refers specifically to his organization.

Though not always overt, faith is central to many animal chaplains’ practices. Some provide spiritual care for animals themselves, holding animal blessing events, praying for pets or being a grounding presence during euthanasia.

It’s not just pets and their owners who require spiritual support. Veterinarians are more likely than the general population to die by suicide, and many in animal care fields grapple with moral injury and compassion fatigue.

“Some shelter workers euthanize 100 cats a day as part of their job. So attending to loss in the community is important,” said Bowen.

Scott Campbell, a veterinary chaplain at the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, said it was seeing the toll of the veterinary field up close that drew him to becoming a veterinary chaplain.

“I became aware of the suicide statistics in the veterinary profession. I’ve been around the veterinary profession for, like, 45 years now,” said Campbell, whose father-in-law and wife both worked in the field. “I realized that that’s an area that really needed help.”

About every 10 days, Campbell said, he wanders throughout the teaching hospital, offering a listening ear to everyone from the veterinarians to folks working in shipping and receiving.

For many animal chaplains, their vocational path stems from personal loss. That was true for Valerie Richards, a cradle Catholic and longtime social worker now enrolled at a Buddhist seminary, and for Delores Hines-Kaalund, who completed a training program through Pet Chaplain in 2021.

Both lost longtime pets — Richards, a cat named Ellington; and Hines-Kaalund, her Chihuahua, Taz — and were taken aback by the intensity of their grief.

“It left such an impact on me, in terms of grief or bereavement. It was far beyond what I’d experienced with a human loved one,” said Hines-Kaalund, who describes herself as a “charismatic and nondenominational” Christian. She integrates her pet chaplaincy training into her full-time work as a hospice chaplain, helping patient families make decisions about the pets of their dying loved ones while also supporting people grieving dying pets.

A few years after Ellington died of cancer, Richards attended a Chaplaincy Innovation Lab webinar on animal chaplaincy hosted by Bowen, when something clicked. “I was like, I have to do this,” said Richards, who enrolled in Bowen’s online course on animal chaplaincy, hosted through the Compassion Consortium, in September 2023. She hopes to become a full-time animal chaplain supporting others struggling with pet loss and illness.

“People are often really surprised by how intensely they grieve. We hear it all the time, people saying they’re ashamed to say this, but they grieved more for their pet than when their mother died,” said Karen Duke, who, along with her partner Gierka, runs the Pet Chaplain organization where Hines-Kaalund was trained.

Gierka added that, unlike other chaplaincy fields, animal chaplains often support people whose grief is minimized by family, employers and faith leaders.

Animal loss can also trigger existential questions about God’s existence and character, or whether animals are in the afterlife. Trained chaplains aren’t there to provide answers but are familiar with a range of religious and spiritual worldviews and can help people make meaning from their circumstances.

Campbell recalled one man he met with at a veterinary clinic who seemed to be in good spirits as his dog received chemotherapy.

“I was preparing to close, and the client stopped, was quiet for a moment, looked at me and said, ‘You know, I have the exact same kind of cancer my dog has. And so I’m seeing my future laid out before my eyes,’” said Campbell. “All of a sudden, that turned into a completely different kind of conversation.”

Because veterinary and animal chaplaincy are still emerging fields, there’s little consistency around training and credentials. According to Skaggs, ordination is common for non-animal chaplains who work in highly institutionalized settings, like hospitals or the military, but it’s rarely a requirement for animal chaplains. Financial compensation is also inconsistent, with some animal chaplains charging hourly rates or being paid by an institution and others working on a volunteer basis and accepting donations.

Gierka and Duke are passionate about empowering lay people to be animal chaplains and did so for years through their online Introduction to Pet Chaplaincy course. What started two decades ago as a six-week course with six people became a 15-week course with more than 30 people a semester. In 2022, the pair paused the course to translate it into a book series, which is expected out later this year.

“We’re seeing, after 20 years, now we’re at a tipping point,” said Duke. “There’s definitely a need.”

Campbell is hoping to help animal and veterinary chaplains connect through the American Association of Veterinary Chaplains, a professional membership organization he recently founded he hopes will eventually certify veterinary chaplains.

And Bowen launched an online animal chaplain training program in 2022 and told RNS that more than 50 people are completing the nine-month program each year. Her students include ministers, rabbis, veterinarians and animal activists. While there’s not a professional board for animal chaplains, Bowen is currently completing a Ph.D. program where she’s developing guidelines for the field.

“What I would say is, the field is gathering,” Bowen said. “This field started around pet bereavement. This field has grown to encompass so much more than that.”

[Episcopal News Service] The Rev. David Sibley’s quest for “Jeopardy!” tournament glory ended earlier than he and his fans had hoped on March 8, when the Episcopal priest lost in the semifinal round and failed to advance to the finals of the show’s Tournament of Champions.

Sibley, rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Walla Walla, Washington, had advanced to the semifinals with a dominant performance Feb. 27 in his opening-round match. Then on March 8, he faced off against Emily Sands, a project manager from Chanhassen, Minnesota, and Yogesh Raut, a psychologist from Vancouver, Washington.

The Rev. David Sibley earned $78,000 in four straight wins in October 2022 on “Jeopardy!” Photo: Jeopardy! Productions

Silbey was a four-time regular season winner, while Raut boasted a three-time win streak. Sands got into the tournament as a wildcard.

This time, Sibley was never in serious contention, finishing the first half of the show with just $600. He was able to work his way back to $6,200 entering Final Jeopardy! nearly drawing even with Sands at $6,800, but Raut clinched the game after taking a runaway lead with $21,400.

The Final Jeopardy! category, “New Testament,” would seemed to have given Sibley an edge, though the clue also required a knowledge of literature, specifically Shakespeare: “This city now in Turkey is the addressee of one of the New Testament epistles & the setting for ‘The Comedy of Errors.'”

Sibley’s guess: What is Corinth? Correct response: What is Ephesus?

Sibley won $78,000 during his first appearances on “Jeopardy!” in October 2022, fulfilling a lifelong dream. After his quarterfinal win in the tournament on Feb. 27, he said in a Facebook post that he hopes viewers will be inspired “to become more curious – about others, about our world – and in so doing, grow in love of God and neighbor for seeing the beautiful web in which we all live and move.”

Phoebe Chatfield, The Episcopal Church’s program associate for creation care and justice, spoke at a March 7 webinar, “Plastic Jesus in the Pews: Preparing for Earth Day Sunday,” hosted by Creation Justice Ministries, an ecumenical nonprofit devoted to protecting Earth and advocating for racial, economic and environmental justice. The webinar was used to introduce a new resource, called “Plastic Jesus: Real Faith in a Synthetic World,” to help congregations think critically about plastic’s impact on Earth and how to practically address it. Photo: Screenshot

[Episcopal News Service] Humans’ exponential increase in plastic production and use over more than a half century has contributed to a worldwide pollution crisis, killing millions of animals every year and emitting greenhouse gasses that raise the global temperature above safe and livable levels for Earth’s climate system.

To address this issue, with Earth Day around the corner on April 22, Creation Justice Ministries — an ecumenical nonprofit devoted to protecting Earth and advocating for racial, economic and environmental justice — created a free online resource called “Plastic Jesus: Real Faith in a Synthetic World.” The resource helps congregations think critically about plastic’s impact on Earth and how to practically address it. It includes sermon starters to inspire discussions in churches, and stories of individuals and communities making positive environmental impacts, as well as ideas on how congregations can theologically approach the plastic crisis. “Plastic Jesus: Real Faith in a Synthetic World” also includes ways in which individuals and congregations can advocate for plastic reduction in their communities.

Creation Justice Ministries introduced the new resource in a March 7 webinar, “Plastic Jesus in the Pews: Preparing for Earth Day Sunday.” Avery Davis Lamb, Creation Justice Ministries’ co-executive director, hosted the webinar.

“Our hope for this resource is it will inspire work throughout the year, not just on Earth Day,” Lamb said. “It’s a resource that’s designed to be used for any season.”

Phoebe Chatfield, The Episcopal Church’s program associate for creation care and justice, was one of several guest speakers.

“We know that the plastic that we’ve produced and the pollution that we’ve produced in one place, doesn’t stay within the human man-made borders, but actually travels around the world,” Chatfield said during the webinar. “If you’re in a congregation that celebrated Earth Day every year, it’s an opportunity to do something different and maybe have this focus on plastic pollution if that isn’t something you’ve emphasized before.”

Chatfield and the Rev. Melanie Mullen, The Episcopal Church’s director of reconciliation, justice and creation care, both serve on Creation Justice Ministries’ board of directors.

Since the 1950s, more than nine billion metric tons of plastic has been produced worldwide, and only 9% of it gets recycled. By 2019, annual plastic production rose to 460 million tons. Between 2019 and 2021, single-use plastic production rose globally by six million tons annually despite tougher worldwide regulations. Plastic waste is ubiquitous around the globe, much so that it’s now been found in human breastmilk and arteries, and near the peak of Mount Everest.

During the webinar, Liz DeMattia, a research scientist at the Duke University Marine Lab, discussed how much plastic production and plastic pollution, also known as marine debris, have grown since plastic was invented in 1907 as a shellac substitute.

“People think, ‘Oh, recycling.’ That’s the magic word you can never get because of the way that plastic is made. When you recycle and you add heat, you not only give off toxic fumes, but it will never be as strong a product in the secondary market as it was when it was first made,” DeMattia said. “What we throw away does not always stay in a landfill. It ends up in our rivers and our streams and in our oceans; the oceans end up becoming the landfill of plastics.”

Plastic damages bodies of water because it’s not biodegradable. Instead, sunlight breaks plastic up into smaller pieces, commonly known as microplastics, which get ingested by aquatic animals and plants. Studies have shown that microplastics decrease their feeding behavior and fertility because they offer no nutritional value.

The Zoom webinar’s participants were able to ask DeMattia written questions. Derrick Weston, Creation Justice Ministries’ theological education and training coordinator, facilitated the discussion. One person inquired about recycling’s efficacy. 

“Instead of just reduce, reuse and recycle, we add the fourth R, which is refuse, so start refusing single-use plastics,” DeMattia said. “The more we refuse single-use plastics, the less there’s a market for them.”

The Rev. Betty Holley is a senior presiding elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church who also serves as vice president of Creation Justice Ministries’ board of directors. She’s also an environmental ethics professor, academic dean and director of the Master of Divinity program at Payne Theological Seminary in Wilberforce, Ohio. During the webinar, Holley explained what ministries in the AME Church do to address the topic of plastic production and pollution. Even so, “we don’t talk about it enough,” she said.

The Plastic Jesus resource “will help us to look at the science of it. … We have a lot of eat, greet and eat situations, so this will help us to bring that paper plate or that paper straw,” Holley said. “With this resource, we now have something tangible in our hands that we can share with congregations to get the conversation started.”

Weston said Christians can look to Scripture when addressing the plastic crisis, even though plastic didn’t exist during biblical times. He referred to Philippians 4:13, John 10, Psalm 23 and others. He also suggested looking at the intentional use of plastic as an act of sin.

“When we allow the convenience of our plastic items and our plastic gadgets to get in the way of actually being in communion with other people, that is an idol for us that has become a thing in the place of God,” Weston said. “And the pretty obvious [sin] is greed. … The fossil fuel industry is really driving the production of plastics in this country, and we have to recognize that that’s about greed.”

“Plastic Jesus: Real Faith in a Synthetic World” is available on Creation Justice Ministries’ website.

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service based in northern Indiana. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

Journalist John Burnett, left, moderated a panel honoring Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s leadership and his legacy on March 7. Panelists included Alice Freeman, Bishop of New York Matthew Heyd, James Williams and the Rev. Stephanie Spellers, during the 39th Episcopal Parish Network Conference. Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

[Episcopal News Service – Houston, Texas] During the first plenary session of the Episcopal Parish Network’s 39th Annual Conference the moderator asked a full room: How many of your parishes are growing? At least two-thirds of the hands went up.

Some 650 clergy and lay leaders are gathered at the Westin Galleria and Westin Oaks hotels here for the March 6-9 conference. Formerly known as the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes, the network is a national, membership-based organization of clergy and lay leaders representing 200 parishes of all sizes and budgets. It hosts an annual conference where members come to share experiences, learn, and generate ideas and practices for creating dynamic ministries and parish life. It also offers peer-to-peer online education and thought leadership initiatives throughout the year.

Episcopal Parish Network “connects clergy and laity across parishes doing their best to survive, thrive and lead The Episcopal Church and its unique witness into the future,” Executive Director Joe Swimmer told Episcopal News Service.

When asked what he meant by “unique witness,” he said, “It means we’re reasonable. Of course, we believe scripture contains all things necessary for salvation, the creeds contain a sufficient statement of our faith, there were two sacraments that were handed down by our Lord himself. And we are reasonable, which means my husband and I can be married, which means that we can have women priests and bishops, which means that we talk about climate, which means that we talk about race and racial reconciliation.”

The Rev. David Copley, The Episcopal Church’s director of global partnerships and mission personnel, talks about Global Partnerships. “Our office exists to remind us that we are all children of God on a global basis, and that there are no walls and no fences in our neighborhoods,” he said. “In this day and age of divisiveness that’s hugely important … having partners around the Anglican Communion is so, so important for us today.” Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

It’s that witness, Swimmer said, that is so important in today’s fractured society. “For us to do anything but nurture it and help it to endure and to maybe offer healing to some of those wounds or ways of bringing people together would be criminal.”

The conference’s theme, “Inspiring Leaders,” is intended, organizers say, to inspire leadership to move the church forward and to consider those leaders, like Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, who have inspired others with their leadership.

The conference’s first plenary session on March 7 was meant to be a discussion between Curry and veteran NPR journalist John Burnett. But with Curry unable to attend as he recovers at home from surgery, it became a panel discussion honoring him moderated by Burnett, who is also a longtime member of St. David’s Episcopal Church in Austin. Panelists included Alice Freeman, a parishioner at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Wilson, North Carolina, a member of the Diocese of North Carolina’s Standing Committee and a member of Executive Council; New York Bishop Matthew Heyd, who was born and raised in North Carolina; James Williams, an investment banker and member of Houston’s St. Martin’s Episcopal Church; and the Rev. Stephanie Spellers, canon to the presiding bishop for evangelism, reconciliation and creation care.

Before the discussion started, Burnett, taking an idea from Spellers, asked those in the room to think of one word to describe Curry, a quality or gift received from him. Over the next 30 seconds, the individuals offered the following words: “joyful,” “dynamic,” “humble,” “enthusiastic,” “courageous,” faithful,” “preacher,” “openhearted,” “Buffalo Bills” (a nod to his favorite NFL team), “love,” “love,” “love,” “Jesus,” “belly laugh” and “Bible.”

Later, Freeman, who outside her service to the church is a longtime friend of Curry’s, told ENS when asked about his legacy, “His legacy is love. It’s pure and simple. His legacy is love.”

“He listens to people, he understands people, and they understand that about him; when you are in his presence, you feel a spirit, a gentle kind spirit, a loving spirit.”

Curry is recovering at home in Raleigh, North Carolina, following a series of medical procedures. His successor will be elected in June at the 81st General Convention and installed in November at Washington National Cathedral.

The Rt. Rev. Rose Hudson-Wilkin, suffragan bishop of Dover in the Church of England’s Diocese of Canterbury, and the Rt. Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis, engaged in a keynote conversation on March 7. Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

Later in the afternoon on March 7, the second keynote event featured a discussion between the Rt. Rev. Rose Hudson-Wilkin, suffragan bishop of Dover in the Church of England’s Diocese of Canterbury, and the Rt. Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis.

The two bishops were asked to consider the “chief challenges” they face over the next one-to-three years and what opportunities might come from those challenges.

Hudson-Wilkin said the challenge question often comes up in her diocese. What she always comes back to, she said, is “the lack of confident Christians.” The bishop explained she was referring to the Eucharistic prayer that ends by saying: “Send us out in the power of your Spirit to live and work to your praise and glory.” As she travels her diocese, she tells people not to say those words if they don’t mean it.

“I want to see Christians who live into those words, who really want to be sent out in the power of the Spirit, to live into what it means to be the people of God,” she said.

Following on Hudson-Wilkin, Baskerville-Burrows said, “The way I often talk about it is that I want people in our churches to be all in on Jesus.” During her Sunday visitations, she said, the questions she wants answered are, why are you here and what keeps you here? What she finds, she said, in the U.S. context of what’s being described as an “epidemic of loneliness,” is that people want “belonging.”

Still, she said, people struggle to answer her questions, and that speaks to the lack of confidence Hudson-Wilkin mentioned, and possibly to insufficient formation.

“I don’t want faith to be lived in the shallow end of the pool, I want it to be deep,” Baskerville-Burrows said. “And I want to help form folks who are knowing why they worship Jesus in the way they do, and why they’re taking the time to be in community, why they’re giving up the resources to support transformational change, and to be articulate about it.”

Formation is something people in the Diocese of West Virginia are thinking about. Catherine Saxe, the diocese’s canon for mission and ministry and a first-time conference attendee, told ENS formation is part of the diocese’s congregational development plan. She attended a March 7 session, “Belonging: Young Families Searching for Spiritual Communities.” One of the challenges in her diocese, post-pandemic, she said, is welcoming back young families.

“One of the things particularly about the young families is offering a really authentic space where parents are supported when their kids are asking the big questions about spirituality and life, because I think one of the themes they talked about is parents feel very ill-equipped,” Saxe told ENS. “It’s hard for them to have those discussions because they feel like they don’t have the support or education, and so how do we give them that support, help them to navigate those questions?”

The conference is organized around six workshop tracks designed to educate and inspire on subjects including leadership, financial resiliency, innovation, strategy, inclusiveness and real property management. It began on March 6 with pre-conference sessions designed for colleagues and peers working within specific roles — rectors, deans, sub-deans, associates, curates, wardens, vestry members, lay leaders, communications professionals, etc. — to share, learn and inspire each other to strengthen their work and their ministries.

The conference offers a way to engage in “cross-disciplinary study,” said Karen Kraycirik, chief operating officer at Christ Church Cathedral in Houston and co-chair of the conference planning committee.

“Every parish has something to bring to the table; that’s a value,” she said. “What I also find is a lot of us, no matter our size, are experiencing the same thing. To feel that camaraderie, to feel that solidarity with one another no matter if you have a $40 million endowment or if you have no endowment, we can still be facing the same thing in the world today.”

The Rev. Doyt L. Conn Jr., rector of Epiphany Parish of Seattle, Washington, Diocese of Olympia, first attended one of the network’s conferences in 2004 as a seminarian. Back then, it was still the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes.

“It was wonderfully impactful because I met all sorts of priests who remain role models of how to be a priest,” Conn, who serves on Episcopal Parish Network’s Board of Directors, told ENS.

Twenty years later, he’s still attending conferences along with members of his staff.

“When I go to EPN [conferences] I encounter churches and their rectors who are doing interesting things, who are owning the traditional patterns of The Episcopal Church, wherever they are, and completely thriving. They’re also doing innovative things, but they continue to be a model for me of how you can be an Episcopal church.”

-Lynette Wilson is a reporter and managing editor of Episcopal News Service. She lives in New York City and can be reached at lwilson@episcopalchurch.org.

[World Council of Churches] In an online conference organized by the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations on March 5, the World Council of Churches was represented among interreligious voices bringing their concerns and sense of solidarity in the lead-up to International Women’s Day, celebrated annually on March 8.

A panel explored together the theme “Women Sowing the Seeds of Peace and Cultivating Encounter.”

Rudina Collaku, executive director of the Women’s Centre for Development and Culture in Albania, spoke about preventing extremism among youth. She noted that deaths from terrorism are increasing, and urged people to work with youth to make a difference. 

Svamini Hamsananda Ghiri, vice president of the Italian Hindu Union, spoke about intercultural dialogue. She noted that International Women’s Day is a time to honor the social, cultural, economic and political results achieved by women, but Ghiri also noted there is much work ahead.

Read the entire article here.

[The Church of England] Following discussion at the February meeting of General Synod, further details of plans for a new program board to oversee the ongoing work of Living in Love and Faith (LLF) have been shared with General Synod members.

Leicester Bishop Martyn Snow, the lead bishop for LLF, has written to Synod members to outline plans for a new oversight board and the re-formation of three working groups: Pastoral Guidance, Pastoral Reassurance and Prayers of Love and Faith. Synod members have been invited to express their interest in joining the groups which will be formed of bishops, other clergy and laity.

In addition to these working groups, meetings with stakeholders will be organized to help enable progress ahead of a meeting of the House of Bishops’ May meeting.

Read the entire article here.

[The Church of England] A nearly $2 million grant that will help a group of Church of England churches pay for items such as solar panels and heat pumps has been announced today by the Benefact Trust.

The grant-giving charity will provide additional support over two years to up to 60 “demonstrator” churches that in turn will lead the way in inspiring and encouraging other churches to achieve net zero carbon emissions.

Under the plans, half of the additional funding will be allocated to support a group of churches this year with the other half pledged for 2025.

Read the entire article here.

[World Council of Churches] Three World Council of Churches commissions — the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, Commission on Health and Healing, and Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development — are meeting jointly March 5-8 in Geneva to explore the theme “Faith and Effective Witness and Diakonia in the 21st Century.”

The three commissions are guiding the strategic objectives from 2023 to 2030, focusing on international affairs, health and healing, and climate justice.

All aim to empower churches and ecumenical partners to effectively address pressing contemporary issues, including climate and economic crises, the regression in human rights, violent conflicts, and the scarcity of essential social services like healthcare, aligning with the ecumenical tradition’s commitment to holistic witness and service.

Read the entire article here.

Raquel Richardson will portray Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman in a dramatic reading on March 10 at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Cathedral in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Photo: Martha Harris

[Episcopal News Service] On March 10, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Cathedral in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, will observe 111 years since the death of Harriet Tubman by hosting a one-hour dramatic reading. The event is sponsored by the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania and the Bishop Nathan Baxter chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians.

The story, called “Leaders & Liberators,” is an imagined reenactment of Harriet Tubman conversing with two fellow Underground Railroad conductors, Stephen Smith and William Whipper, on Independence Day 1872, in Cape May, New Jersey.

The Rev. Martha Harris, priest-in-charge at St. Paul Episcopal Church in Columbia and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Mechanicsburg, wrote the script with her husband, Randolph “Randy” Harris, who works in historic preservation in Lancaster County.

“If you think about what Harriet did, constantly putting her own life at risk even after she had gotten her freedom, she went back and got more people, and more people, and more people to come to Philadelphia so they could be free. And then she went on to be a healer until the end of her life. It really is impressive,” Martha Harris told Episcopal News Service.

The Episcopal Church celebrates Harriet Tubman’s feast day on March 10. Photo: GPA Photo Archive/H.B. Lindsley/Library of Congress

Tubman, who was born enslaved in 1822 before escaping as an adult, is best known for her work helping about 70 enslaved people reach freedom as a conductor for the Underground Railroad. Known as the “Moses of Her People,” she also was a spy for the Union Army during the Civil War, helped John Brown recruit men for his raid on Harper’s Ferry and was active in the effort to secure for women the right to vote. The Episcopal Church celebrates Tubman’s feast day on March 10.

In the early 19th century, Smith and Whipper, brothers-in-law and business partners, were successful entrepreneurs in the lumber industry in Columbia. They both also worked in real estate in Philadelphia. They were among the wealthiest Black Philadelphians in their lifetimes. They used their wealth to transport enslaved people to freedom in the north via railroad cars they owned.

“None of this was taught in school. People like Thaddeus Stevens and Whipper and Smith, and of course Harriet Tubman — they’re heroes and heroines that if especially young, minority kids saw these people in the history books back in the ’50s and ’60s and had them to look up to when they were growing up, I think we would have a whole different perspective on our whole world around us on these issues,” Randy Harris told ENS.

Martha Harris said the reenactment project grew from the 2022 General Convention resolution encouraging every diocese to honor Tubman’s 110th death anniversary. In response, the Rev. Rebecca Myers, rector of Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen in Newport, proposed the idea of producing the dramatic reading and obtained a grant from Province III. With support from the Diocese of Pennsylvania, the first dramatic reading took place one year ago at Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church in Columbia followed by an evening prayer service. About 125 people attended.

Martha and Randy Harris combined research from documents and biographies of Tubman, Smith and Whipper to create the script. Because there’s no documentation of Tubman having ever visited Columbia, the Harrises decided to set the story in Cape May, where Tubman lived in the early 1850s. They also chose the year 1872 because it was the year abolitionist William Still published his experience as an Underground Railroad conductor, “The Underground Railroad Records,” using notes he hid in diaries. During the reenactment, Tubman, Smith and Whipper trade stories and reflect on their experiences as abolitionists. The reenactment will also include Whipper reading passages from “The Underground Railroad” to Tubman, who never learned to read.

“[Tubman] communicated through songs and through a lot of emotional appeal. She could also use the stars as a way of navigating through the dark woods, but she was never a person of the word,” Martha Harris said. “Her singing comes across well in the dramatic reading. It shows that even though she couldn’t read or write, she clearly had this intelligence.”

To ensure authenticity, Randy Harris recreated the original cover of “The Underground Railroad Records” for the actors to use as a prop. Martha Harris also used historic documents to produce language Tubman would’ve used while alive.

The “Leaders & Liberators” cast consists of Raquel Richardson as Tubman, Nelson Polite Jr. as Smith and Lenwood Sloan as Whipper. Tyrone Powell, an attorney and parishioner at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Harrisburg, will serve as the interlocutor, or host, of the reenactment.

“These are the kinds of stories that need to be uplifted now,” Randy Harris said.

“Leaders & Liberators” will start at 4 p.m. Eastern March 10. The event is free and open to the public.

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service based in northern Indiana. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

[Episcopal News Service] The work of the 81st General Convention is underway. Bishops and deputies have begun meeting online as the legislative committees that will bring resolutions to the floor when General Convention convenes in person June 23-28 in Louisville, Kentucky.

This is the second General Convention for which most committee meetings and hearings are expected to take place online, reflecting changes implemented in 2022 for the 80th General Convention. By conducting committee business in advance, church leaders were able to streamline and shorten that in-person meeting to four days to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

COVID-19 continues to spread, though public health concerns have eased, allowing church leaders to plan a fuller churchwide gathering over six days in Louisville. Online committee meetings again figure prominently in those plans, partly because of their success last time. About 2,500 people attended the meetings and hearings of two dozen legislative committees in 2022, without having to travel farther than their own computer or phone.

This year, the schedule of committee meetings and hearings will be updated on General Convention’s Virtual Binder, at vbinder.net. Anyone may attend the meetings as an observer by registering in advance; those wishing to speak at one of the hearings are asked to sign up at least two business days in advance.

The Ven. Stannard Baker, archdeacon in the Diocese of Vermont, leads a March 6 Zoom meeting with the bishops’ and deputies’ committees on Prayer Book, Liturgy & Music.

General Convention is a bicameral governing body, made up of the House of Bishops and House of Deputies. Although bishops and deputies meet separately and are assigned to separate General Convention committees on parallel topic areas, each pair of corresponding committees typically meets together to conduct hearings and other business.

In one of the first online committee meetings, bishops and deputies serving on the Prayer Book, Liturgy & Music committees gathered on March 6 to introduce themselves to each other and to prepare themselves to consider resolutions assigned to the committees.

“My hope is that we move forward some of the wonderful liturgical work that’s happened in the past, that we see some new things coming out of music and that we really honor our tradition of our own Episcopal saints in Feasts and Fasts, respect each other and have good conversation,” said the Ven. Stannard Baker, archdeacon in the Diocese of Vermont, who chairs the House of Deputies’ Committee on Prayer Book, Liturgy & Music.

Much of the work of the committees is yet unknown because some of the Blue Book reports produced by the church’s interim bodies are being processed by the General Convention Office and have yet to be posted online. The Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music’s report, for example, is listed as “in progress.”

Other Blue Book reports already are available now for the public and committees to review. They can be found on the General Convention website, which will be updated with additional Blue Book reports as they are translated.

General Convention typically meets every three years and is a hub for legislative activity, networking and fellowship. Some of its core duties include adoption of the triennial budget plan, as recommended by Executive Council, and the election of members to various church bodies. Bishops and deputies also consider hundreds of resolutions covering everything from liturgical revisions to the church’s positions on public policy issues.

Much focus at the 81st General Convention will be on electing the next presiding bishop to a nine-year term that starts Nov. 1, while also celebrating the final months in office of the church’s beloved outgoing presiding bishop, the Most Rev. Michael Curry. The Diocese of Kentucky also is eager to showcase its congregations and ministries and its increased emphasis on racial reconciliation, particularly since the 2020 killing of Breonna Taylor and that year’s widespread racial justice protests.

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

[World Council of Churches] People from around the world involved in the work of three critical World Council of Churches commissions have discussed global geopolitical trends impacting their activities and church members. The panel, led by the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, was moderated by Mathews George Chunakara, general secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia.

The Rev. Kenneth Mtata, WCC program director for Public Witness and Diakonia, said the discussion focused on whether the church can bear witness in our times.

Bertrand Ramcharan, a former leading U.N. human rights official from Guyana, said non-governmental organizations and civil society are the conscience of the world. Civil society, including the churches, is part of the process, and conflicts must be managed with respect for humanity.

Read the entire article here.

[World Council of Churches] During a panel discussion at the meeting of three World Council of Churches commissions on March 5 , speakers explored the theme “Climate emergency—churches responding in faith and hope.” The panel was moderated by the Most Rev. Julio Murray Thompson, who also moderates the Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development, which organized the panel.

The discussion highlighted the root causes and wide-ranging impacts of the climate emergency as well as exposed the climate-water-food-health nexus.

Harjeet Singh, a global expert on climate impacts as well the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, underscored that climate change is the greatest global threat to humanity, yet we have not seen sufficient action from global leaders around the world. Singh acknowledged that while there has been a massive increase in renewable energy, we must look at how global economic justice is important for climate justice.

Read the entire article here.

The 68th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women will take place March 11-22. Photo: UNCSW68 logo

[Episcopal News Service] The 10 women who will represent Presiding Bishop Michael Curry at the 68th meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women are set to begin their work on March 11.

“It’s wonderful to have this group of wise sages and people who are really committed to the work of the church and the work of women’s empowerment,” said the Rev. David Copley, the church’s director of global partnerships and mission personnel, in a March 4 video presentation that highlighted the breadth of ministry the delegates represent.

The Commission on the Status of Women will meet March 11-22 with sessions taking place in New York. Participants will include representatives of U.N. member states, U.N. entities and accredited nongovernmental organizations from across the globe, including The Episcopal Church.

The priority theme for this year’s gathering is “accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective.”

The Episcopal delegation includes social workers, lawyers, journalists, and leaders of women’s and young adult ministries across The Episcopal Church. Four are priests and one is a deacon. They come from eight dioceses representing five of the Episcopal Church’s nine provinces. They all had been selected through an application process earlier this year.

They are:

• The Rev. Robin Newman, Diocese of New York (Province II)
• The Rev. Lilo Carr Rivera, Diocese of Long Island (Province II)
• The Rev. Claudia Scheda, Diocese of Western New York (Province II)
• The Rev. Madeleine Rebouché, Diocese of Tennessee (Province IV)
• Karen Neilsen, Diocese of Ohio (Province V)
• Lori Petrie, Diocese of Chicago (Province V)
• Zoila Karina Flores Arriola, Diocese of Los Angeles (Province VIII)
• Karen Woodward Ide, Diocese of Los Angeles (Province VIII)
• Faith LeMasters, Diocese of Los Angeles (Province VIII)
• The Rev. Luz Maria Lambis Garces, Diocese of Colombia (Province IX)

These delegates “all have experience working with underserved or vulnerable populations, including refugees, migrants, industrial and domestic workers, incarcerated, unhoused, LGBTQ+ populations and other marginalized groups,” making them well-equipped to address the gathering’s theme, said Lynnaia Main, The Episcopal Church’s representative to the United Nations, in a March 6 press release announcing the delegates.

The Episcopal delegates will observe official UNCSW meetings in person and online and will advocate for the priorities outlined in Curry’s statement to the UNCSW, which he submitted in October as part of the formal process for nongovernmental organizations.

They also will write about their experiences and share them with the wider church through a variety of platforms both during the event and afterward.

“We are eager to learn from their example and wisdom derived through direct experience and look forward to seeing how the Holy Spirit will fire up their ministries both at the United Nations and in their communities once they return home,” Main said in the release.

Supporting and guiding the delegation will be members of the presiding bishop’s staff and other leaders, including from The Episcopal Church offices of Global Partnerships and Government Relations, as well as Episcopal Relief & Development. Former Episcopal delegates to the UNCSW also will be part of the leadership support team.

More information about the delegation and its work is on the Episcopal UNCSW website.

–Melodie Woerman is a freelance reporter based in Kansas.

Atlanta, Georgia-based Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs is one of many Community Development Financial Institutions to which The Episcopal Church has provided low-interest loans through its Economic Justice Loan Fund. In turn, ACE provides loans to Atlanta-area small businesses, such as Bespokuture, a Black-owned clothing company. Photo: Jordan Luke

[Episcopal News Service] With help from secular and faith-based investors, including The Episcopal Church, the Fort Pierce, Florida-based Solar and Energy Loan Fund makes it possible for low-income homeowners to make energy efficient updates to their homes by lending them money at below market interest rates.

About 57% of people with credit scores at or below 680 were rejected for loans in the first half of 2023 alone. For women, people of color and elderly people, as well as people with low incomes and disabilities, not having access to loans is both a social justice and an equity issue.   

“How do we promote economic justice, climate equity, solar for all if almost half of America doesn’t have savings and cannot access financing?” Doug Coward, director of national expansion and partnerships for the Solar and Energy Loan Fund, told Episcopal News Service. “That’s where SELF comes in, to fill in that critical gap.”

To help low-income homeowners make energy efficient updates and accumulate home equity, SELF borrows money from investors, including a $300,000 low-interest loan from the Economic Justice Loan Fund, a ministry of The Episcopal Church. SELF uses the money to offer below-market interest rate loans to homeowners. The homeowners then use the money to finance various cost-saving home energy efficiency projects, like installing new windows and roofs, which increase home values.

“Primarily what we do is help those that are on the marginal space of the communities, those that don’t have the financial means,” Margareth Crosnier de Bellaistre, the church’s director, investment manager and banking financer, told Episcopal News Service. “I think it also illustrates how The Episcopal Church can work.”

SELF is one of many Community Development Financial Institutions, or CDFIs, The Episcopal Church has supported since 1998 through its Economic Justice Loan Fund. The fund promotes economic justice, a priority in The Episcopal Church’s social and religious witness. The CDFIs invest the money in economic development, affordable housing, job creation and other community programs.

“Jesus called us to help our neighbor regardless of their circumstances, and we know that, historically, minority businesses have had a more difficult time accessing capital at reasonable interest rates,” Kurt Barnes, the church’s chief financial officer, told Episcopal News Service. “We’re able to provide that capital below interest rates that they would likely get if they were going to their local commercial bank.”

Investment loans are approved and distributed on a rolling basis. In 2023, the Economic Justice Loan Committee approved six investments totaling $2.35 million of its $7 million fund. As of December 2023, $952,376 is still available for investment. Executive Council recently increased the fund to $9 million. 

Loan amounts range between $150,000 and $500,000. Depending on the loan agreement, agencies have between three and five years to repay their loan at an interest rate between 2.5 and 3.5%, Barnes said. After the loan is paid off, they may request to continue borrowing from the church and increase their loan amount, he added.

The Economic Justice Loan Committee is a committee of Executive Council.

“It’s important for people to understand that we’re offering investments, not grants. Every dollar we loan comes back to The Episcopal Church with interest,” the Rev. Will Mebane, rector of St. Barnabas Memorial Episcopal Church in Falmouth, Massachusetts, told ENS. “The work that we do doesn’t cost the church anything. Really, the Economic Justice Loan program is one of the best kept secrets there is in The Episcopal Church.”

Most investment loan applicants and recipients are secular, Crosnier de Bellaistre said. However, even though they’re not affiliated with The Episcopal Church, they’re required to be endorsed by their local Episcopal bishop. The Economic Justice Loan Committee will sometimes ask diocesan bishops if they know of local CDFIs to consider investing in. Most applicants are based in the United States.

Another CDFI the committee is currently investing in is the Brunswick, Maine-based Genesis Community Loan Fund. The agency connects communities with resources to carry out development projects, such as affording housing, child day care centers, health care facilities and food pantries. When Genesis first applied for an investment loan, the Economic Justice Loan Committee approved $250,000. The second and current investment loan is $400,000.

“It’s been tremendous; [the Economic Justice Loan Committee] was wonderful in stepping up,” Liza Fleming-Ives, Genesis Community Loan Fund’s executive director, told ENS. “The need for the work that we do has only increased since COVID-19, so the fact that the committee was willing to commit capital to help us respond to that need during the pandemic, and increasing their investing when renewing, was incredibly meaningful to us.”

In Georgia, the Economic Justice Loan Committee has established a long-term partnership with Atlanta-based Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs, or ACE, the state’s largest small business-focused CDFI. Statewide, the nonprofit provides financial, business development and community development resources to women, people living in low-income communities and people of color, particularly Black and Latino communities. In 2023, the committee renewed and increased its investment loan in ACE with a $400,000 loan.

“Equitable access to capital, reducing barriers, helping businesses build assets and create jobs, and supporting communities and families aligns with economic justice,” Martina Edwards, ACE’s chief of strategic partnerships, told ENS. “Small business ownership, similar to home ownership, is a pathway to wealth creation, which also supports economic justice.”

Coward said SELF wouldn’t exist today if it weren’t for support from its investors, especially the faith-based ones like the Economic Justice Loan Fund.

“When we first set up this program, the large banks didn’t want to invest in us. It was the faith-based organizations that helped us establish a proven track record, and now the rest of the country is looking at us as a model to either work with directly,” he said. “The impact of [the Economic Justice Loan Fund’s] investment is beyond just the direct benefit to the homeowner and the contractors who do the work, and I think it’s also set a great example for the country.”

Potential borrowers must contact Crosnier de Bellaistre directly to apply for a loan.

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service based in northern Indiana. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

[Anglican Communion News Service] The secretary general of the Anglican Communion, the Rt. Rev. Anthony Poggo, visited and encouraged members of the Church of Bangladesh March 1-2 as they celebrated their 50th anniversary and the 200th anniversary of St Thomas’ Cathedral.

The Church of Bangladesh is a united Protestant church formed by the union of various Protestant churches in Bangladesh, principally the Anglican and English Presbyterian denominations. It is a member of the Anglican Communion, World Communion of Reformed Churches, Christian Conference of Asia, Council for World Mission and World Council of Churches.   

The theme of the celebrations was “One Apostolic Church, One family and One Future,” reflecting the ecumenical nature and history of the Church of Bangladesh. In his greeting at the Thanksgiving service on March 1 , Poggo commended the community for their unity and ecumenism. He said, “The unity of your church is an example to many, which is highlighted in the theme of this jubilee celebration. My colleagues and I will be meeting the World Communion of Reformed Churches in London and later this year for the trilateral consultation, alongside the Lutheran World Federation. We plan to attend the next WCRC General Council in 2025. Our commitment to this work fits with what Anglicans have long called ‘the ecumenical vocation of Anglicanism.’ Part of the mandate of the Anglican Communion office is taking forward ecumenical relationships on behalf of the Anglican Communion.”

The anniversary marked 50 years since the United Church of Bangladesh was declared a fully autonomous and independent church within the land territory of Bangladesh on April 30, 1974. There are eight deaneries and 115 parishes under the three dioceses, with a population of about 22,000. Membership is diverse, including many different cultures. About half of the total members are from the Garo, Santal, Marma and Chakma ethnic groups of Bangladesh. All dioceses of the province were represented at the service. These include Dhaka Diocese (Bishop Samuel Sunil Mankhin), Kushtia Diocese (Bishop Hemen Halder) and Barisal Diocese (Bishop Shourabh Pholia). 

The Church of Bangladesh vision statement says, “We envision being the salt and light wherever we will be and expand our footprints and achieve financial stability through our love and deeds by 2030.” They are achieving this by establishing the following priorities: spiritual renewal; strengthening spiritual formation for youth and children, identifying opportunities to address the relevant issues and challenges; initiating inter-religious dialogue to build relationship and religious harmony to combat radicalism; and contextualizing the church’s action to present needs and challenges by grasping socioeconomic, political, environmental, technological and spiritual arenas – locally and globally. Bangladesh faces growing poverty that affects the Christian minority.

During his visit, Poggo commended their vision saying, “As a church you have placed emphasis on preaching the word of God and meeting the physical and spiritual needs of the people. Your missional outlook, focusing on the issues you are facing, such as combatting climate change, are an example to many. As you celebrate 50 years of the existence of the Church of Bangladesh, and look forward to the next 50, my sincere hope and prayer is that the Church of Bangladesh continues to follow this call and act as light in the society in which God has placed you.” 

Celebrating 200 years of St Thomas’ Cathedral 

On March 2 , Poggo joined Anglican Consultative Council Standing Committee members Aishi Drong, and the Rt. Rev. ShourabhPholia, bishop of the Diocese of Barisal, at the 200th anniversary thanksgiving service of St. Thomas’ Cathedral in Dhaka.   

Construction of the church began in 1819 and was completed in 1821. It was inaugurated on July 10, 1824 by Kolkata Bishop Reginald Heber and has served as a cathedral church since 1951.   

In his sermon, Poggo referenced the importance of marking such significant milestones. He said, “It is very good to keep memorials of such historic events in our lives and lives of our church communities. Think of what God has done for you at St. Thomas’ Cathedral over the last 200 years. Thank God for this.” He continued to encourage the cathedral congregation and leadership, saying, “You have an important responsibility as a congregation as well as the leadership of this cathedral. You need to thank God for seeing you through and bringing you this far. Today not only are we celebrating 50 years of the Church of Bangladesh, but also 200 years of St. Thomas’ Cathedral. I am sure you will be reaching many lives every Sunday. Thank God that you can change the image of the place of worship as well as the image of Christianity, the image of Anglicanism.”

In a speech for the service the Rt. Rev. Samuel Sunil Manhkin, primate and moderator of the Church of Bangladesh, said, “We are gathered not just in a building, but in a monument that has witnessed two centuries of history, endured through times of change and has been a steadfast symbol of our enduring faith. From its early days under the auspices of the Church of Pakistan to becoming a vibrant part of the Church of Bangladesh following our nation’s independence, the cathedral has been a witness to our collective journey.”

[The Church of England] The Board of Governors of the Church Commissioners has warmly welcomed the report of the independent Oversight Group, the recommendations from which will shape the new Fund for Healing, Repair and Justice. The Oversight Group was tasked with advising the Church Commissioners’ response to its historic links with African chattel enslavement.

“In seeking justice for all, we must continue to work together remembering that all are created in the image of God,” said the Most Rev. Justin Welby, archbishop of Canterbury and chair of the Board of Governors.

The commissioners particularly welcomed the group’s hope for the scale and impact for the fund, acknowledging suggestions around wide-ranging research and truth-telling must be taken as seriously as the financial ambitions reflected in the recommendations.

Read the entire article here.

Women Episcopal bishops pose for a photo at the House of Bishops’ March 2024 retreat at Camp Allen in Navasota, Texas. Photo: Frank Logue

[Episcopal News Service — Navasota, Texas] The House of Bishops is gathering Feb. 28 – March 4 here at Camp Allen in Navasota, Texas, for its spring retreat centered on the theme “Grounded in Worship and Work,” particularly as it relates to fellowship with one another and within the church. 

For Taiwan Bishop Lennon Chang, reconnecting with fellow bishops in person presents a “great learning opportunity.” 

“I focus on unity, and I think that’s the most important thing for bishops, to get together as one body,” he told Episcopal News Service as interpreted from Mandarin by the Rev. Fennie Chang, vicar of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Hacienda Heights, California, and the Rev. Katherine Feng, an Episcopal priest based in the Diocese of Los Angeles, who served as his interpreters. “It’s good to learn more about formation and discipleship training, because it’s important to help build up more followers of Jesus.”

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, who turns 71 this March, is in the final year of his nine-year term as presiding bishop. He was unable to attend the retreat because he has spent much of the past year facing a series of health crises and treatments. On March 1, surgeons successfully implanted a pacemaker to treat an irregular heartbeat. Former Michigan Bishop Wendell Gibbs chaired the meeting instead.

Curry’s absence hasn’t gone unnoticed during the gathering. However, it also hasn’t dampened the bishops’ “sense of collegiality that he created,” according to Georgia Bishop Frank Logue.

“[Curry’s] absence is felt, and the feeling within the House of Bishops isn’t the same as if he were here,” Logue told ENS. “We miss our chief pastor, but the feeling of being siblings as well as colleagues remains as we continue supporting each other.”

The gathering of some 125 bishops comes at a time when some bishops joined other church leaders in calling for greater oversight and transparency in disciplinary cases involving bishops. In February, The Episcopal Church, under the presiding bishop’s direction, updated its website to launch a series of informational resources, including chronologies of active cases involving bishops under the church’s Title IV disciplinary canons and making it easier for the public to file complaints and navigate the church’s inquiry process.

“I think, in some ways, we acknowledge that in any body — in any gathering — there’s going to be fracture,” Missouri Bishop Deon Johnson told ENS. “I think that we acknowledge the hurt and the fracture, while at the same time are trying to figure out how best to live into a place of reconciliation and trying really hard to respond and not react.”

Before the gathering, the bishops were given two questions to consider for daily discussions: What support do you need from your bishop colleagues now? And, What are the marks for a healthy culture for the House of Bishops? The discussions have focused on concerns and hopes for the future of the House of Bishops and for The Episcopal Church.

The bishops also reviewed plans for the 81st General Convention planned for June 23-28 in Louisville, Kentucky. A new presiding bishop will be elected during the 2024 convention.

The bishops also discussed how to respond to the church’s long-term membership decline. The  number of baptized members dropped just below 1.6 million in 2022, down 21% from 2013, according to the latest parochial reports. The church recorded an even sharper drop in average Sunday attendance in the past decade, down 43% to 373,000 in 2022, though that one-year total was up by 19% from the pandemic-driven low of 313,000 in 2021.

Johnson said discussing membership decline with fellow bishops made him visualize Jesus on his walk to Emmaus in Luke 24. In that chapter, Jesus, unrecognized by his disciples, says little as he listens to them talking while they walk.

“I think this is the Emmaus Road of The Episcopal Church, or of Christianity,” Johnson said. “In this moment, we are living that Emmaus Road — that what we’ve known in the past is being let go and we’re walking towards a resurrected future that we don’t know, but we know that we’re not the ones who are curating it. All we can do is be companions to one another like the disciples.”

The bishops also spent time talking about racial reconciliation and inclusivity as a house and a church during open discussions and in small group table conversations. 

Some bishops noted that everyone should be mindful of the fact that racism and misogyny can be subtle. For example, the first Japanese American woman to become an Episcopal priest, Oregon Bishop Diana Akiyama, shared with the house her experiences with microaggressions as a bishop within her diocese, such as having a lay person compare her to a “china doll” after a Christmas worship service at Trinity Cathedral in Portland. Women bishops and male bishops of color nodded in response.

Montana Bishop Martha Stebbins told ENS that even though she’s not had to “deal with” microaggressions as much as bishops of color and LGBTQ+ bishops, she hasn’t been immune to scrutiny as a woman in a position of authority.

“I’ve have people say, ‘Yes, Bishop,’ in a sarcastic tone of voice,” she said. “The House of Bishops, even though most of us have collegial relationships with our priests and our deacons, [being bishop] is also a supervisory role. So, this is where we can have a relationship with others who have similar roles, and we can close the doors and put down our frustrations and our hopes and dreams.”

On March 1, Minnesota Bishop Craig Loya, Indianapolis Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows and Northwest Texas Bishop Scott Mayer participated in a panel discussion reflecting on what they’ve experienced during their episcopates. Texas Bishop C. Andrew Doyle served as the moderator.

Loya shared his experience of being consecrated less than two weeks after George Floyd was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, which launched global protests against police brutality, especially toward Black people. Baskerville-Burrows said she’s mentally preparing for the possibility of the dioceses of Indianapolis and Northern Indiana combining into one diocese as discussions continue. Mayer, 68, said he’s beginning to think about what happens after retirement. The mandatory retirement age for bishops and all clergy is 72. 

The bishops observed an all-day Sabbath March 2 and were scheduled to renew their ordination vows today. They have also been engaging in worship services every day. The Very Rev. Miguelina Howell, dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford, Connecticut, and the Rev. Ricardo Bailey, rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, are serving as chaplains. Johnson and Logue both told ENS that worship is the most important activity bishops do when they assemble in person.

“Bishops need to be discipled, too,” Johnson told ENS. “If studying the Bible is not continuing education for bishops, then something is very wrong because this is fundamental. We must keep going back again and again to those stories of Jesus.”

Chang said he feels optimistic for the future of the House of Bishops and for The Episcopal Church.

“The Holy Spirit will guide everybody,” he said. “I’m praying for it.”

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service based in northern Indiana. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

[Episcopal News Service] An Episcopal Church standing commission tasked with considering reforms to the church’s Title IV disciplinary canons has issued a report for the 81st General Convention proposing seven resolutions outlining a range of potential canonical changes affecting the disciplinary process.

The proposals are included in the Blue Book report filed by the Standing Commission on Structure, Governance, Constitution and Canons, which is now posted to the General Convention website. If enacted, the canonical changes would expand the range of outcomes for the disciplinary process, limit the role of intake officers, increase checks on the authority of church attorneys, adjust how investigators are appointed, enable suspension of bishops like those of priest suspensions and update the language describing the outcome in cases that end in a “pastoral response.”

The full text of the proposed resolutions can be found on pages 14-33 here.

The standing commission regularly reviews Title IV for possible changes. Its latest report notes that its work took on greater “scope and urgency” last year after Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris separately urged action in response to growing calls for renewed scrutiny of Title IV related to several cases involving bishops.

Much of that churchwide reaction followed Ayala Harris’ decision to publicly identify herself as the complainant in one of those cases against a bishop, alleging sexual harassment, saying a church attorney had decided to end her case with no disciplinary action. The bishop, later revealed by others to be retired Oklahoma Bishop Ed Konieczny, has denied any misconduct.

Last month, Curry announced he had requested and authorized the launch of a new page on The Episcopal Church’s website compiling information on pending and concluded cases against bishops while also making it easier for the public to file complaints and navigate the church’s inquiry process.

The standing commission’s Blue Book report contains recommendations that will be considered by the 81st General Convention when it convenes June 23-28 in Louisville, Kentucky. The commission said it is still compiling the churchwide feedback it received last fall regarding the Title IV canons and plans to submit a supplementary Blue Book report containing additional recommendations.

“We also know that many of the issues we address, including Title IV, take more time and energy to solve than is available between General Conventions, so we will continue working on these matters in preparation for further consideration at the 82nd General Convention,” the standing commission said.

Its recommendations so far include the creation of a “restorative covenant” as one possible resolution of a disciplinary complaint against clergy. The goal is to “expand the opportunity for resolutions that promote ‘healing, repentance, forgiveness, restitution, justice, amendment of life and reconciliation,’” in the spirit of the Title IV canons, the commission said.

Another proposed recommendation would specify that individuals providing pastoral care should not serve as intake officers receiving Title IV complaints.

The commission also proposes changes related to the role of church attorneys in Title IV proceedings. This would specify when the attorney would oversee an investigation, and it would give other disciplinary bodies new powers to overrule the attorney’s decision-making in a case, including when the attorney ends a case with no disciplinary action.

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.