Episcopal Church Women

Presiding bishop-elect discusses his initial plans for Episcopal Church ‘structural realignment’

Approved in June by the 81st General Convention, the new presiding bishop is to develop a plan to save $3.5 million

Church property conference offers congregations more than prayer to keep their buildings

As many as 100,000 church-owned buildings are expected to be sold or repurposed by 2030

Anti-Abuse Conference Challenges a Culture of Silence

The Anglican Communion, in its work to address the issue of abuse, held a conference September 5-11 to offer practical help.

Presiding bishop speaks to 1,000 people during Sacred Ground’s fall online launch event

“These small groups make a difference. This is where Jesus meets us. This is where we have accountability.”

Navigating a Massive Shift to Part-Time Clergy

Sixty-four percent of Episcopal congregations don’t have a paid, full-time priest.

New Zealand native becomes first woman to lead Sonora’s historic St. James Episcopal Church

The Rev. Karen Matthews is the new priest-in-charge. Sonora, CA

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Church builds on success of Sacred Ground curriculum with new launch event, staff additions

Online registration for the Zoom session is now available.

Threads of History

Johns Hopkins’ Inheritance Baltimore effort helps return a 19th-century embroidered sampler to a Black Baltimore church

Are We an LGBT-Affirming Parish?

…we believe that such conversations are not just worthwhile but necessary as we seek faithfulness to the gospel.

The Green Mountain Online Abbey: Vermont’s Virtual Monastic Community

…it’s like having a virtual center where people from far and wide can gather and seek God together.

Conference on artificial intelligence opens with profound question: ‘What is truth?’

 “The idea that inanimate objects may possess agency, and indeed a mind, is very much older than the birth of AI in the 20th century.”

Community gardens hope to sow solutions to growing hunger

“Health equity depends on good nutrition, and we would very much like to be part of that solution.”

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Pauli Murray Center to celebrate grand opening of trailblazing priest’s childhood home

The restored 1898 house that belonged to Murray’s grandparents and where the civil rights leader and trailblazing Episcopal priest spent part of her childhood – Durham, NC

Resources available to celebrate investiture of Presiding Bishop-elect Sean Rowe

To aid Episcopalians in hosting local watch parties during the churchwide virtual event at 11 a.m. ET on Nov. 2.

Bishop Rowe: What the Erie region can teach the Episcopal Church about facing loss, change

It has been a long time since I had back-to-school butterflies, but this year, I am experiencing something similar…

Diocese of Florida prepares for convention with request for new bishop election on its agenda

…a new bishop search a year after the diocese failed to receive the necessary churchwide consents for its previous bishop election

Grace Episcopal hosts discussions on banning books

Grace Episcopal Church will host a five-week education and discussion series called “Banned Books of the Bible.”

As Episcopal priest, Anita Schell still finds inspiration in God, music

Schell says the religious voice has long been missing in conversations about the environment and wrote her doctoral thesis on the topic of environmental justice.

Afghan refugees on the North Shore find homes through a creative plan that could help many more

The basement of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Newburyport, which for more than two years had served as a makeshift home for two very large Afghan families

Down to three members, she fought to keep this historic Virginia church alive: ‘Faith means everything’

“I get overwhelmed when I think about it really,” the 80-year-old Kenbridge native said. “It means love, everything.”

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AME Church delegates name six new bishops while retaining same-sex marriage ban

They include the Rev. Erika D. Crawford, pastor of Mount Zion AME Church in Dover, Delaware

EMM awards Rainbow Asylum Ministry grants to support resettling LGBTQ+ migrants

“We are thrilled to enhance our support and training for these essential ministries within our church…”

Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church Founders Place Respite ministry to offer online dementia care class

“You might thing of this course like school for caregivers.”

Grace Episcopal Church kicks off 36th year of cheeseballs at tasting tea

“There’s a lot of praying that goes into these cheeseballs,” laughed Erin Finch. “As we are making them, we are praying for each family.” – Cullman, AL

Learning from Our 1919 Pentecostal Moment, Part One

At a time when another visionary bishop, Sean Rowe, is promising major structural changes, it’s worth looking back on how we got the system we now have

Gleaners make sure excess food from Harrisonburg Farmers Market doesn’t go to waste

“And not wasting food,” Eckenroad added. “Being able to make sure the food’s not wasted and those that need it get it.”

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Diocese of Georgia to sell diocesan offices, move into building of shuttered church

“This decision is about focusing on what matters most,”

A local church makes it their mission to feed the hungry in Gardner – What they’re doing

The church recently received a $5,100 grant from the Leominster-based Bjurling Foundation to support the community garden, according to Rev. Crellins.

What are the Largest Anglican Seminaries?

Largest Episcopal Church Seminaries by Full-Time Enrollment…

A candid conversation with Bishop Michael Curry

His life story and work is something to cherish.

St. Christopher’s students are invited to have their backpacks blessed to start the school year

Key Biscayne residents are also welcome to drop off school supply donations at the church office between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., Monday to Friday.

Mississippi’s New Bishop Aims to Build Community

“I’m doing a lot of listening right now — what are the joys? What are the sorrows?”

Survey shows more young women leaving religion

JAMESTOWN, N.Y. — An increasing number of American adults are religiously unaffiliated, according to the Survey Center on American Life.

World Humanitarian Day: Anglican UN team commemorate humanitarian workers at UN service

World Humanitarian Day was first marked in 2009 to remember UN staff killed in Baghdad.

Exit Interview: The Reverend Lisa Hunt Reflects on Eighteen Years of Ministry in 

St. Stephen’s Rector reflects on her tenure and the future of queer acceptance in the church.

Episcopalians attend White House Council meeting on tapping into federal climate change funds

The Rev. Melanie Mullen, director of reconciliation, justice and creation in the Office of the Presiding Bishop, also attended

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African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church General Conference to begin August 21

World’s oldest historically Black denomination to gather 15,000 delegates and observers in Columbus, Ohio.

New York youth embark on Jonathan Daniels pilgrimage, visit historic Civil Rights’ sites

Thousands of kids marched and fought for freedom during the Civil Rights Movement.

Call for volunteers to Episcopal Church’s interim bodies nets more than 1,500 applications

Ayala Harris will appoint priests, deacons and lay members to the dozens of interim bodies, while Presiding Bishop-Elect Sean Rowe will appoint bishops.

East End Hospice Holds 23rd Box Art Auction

“Each year, we get these exciting, wonderful, generously created works of art by a number of artists.”

Site of deadliest church shooting in US history is torn down over protests by some Texas families

For many in the community, the sanctuary was a place of solace.

Golden Agers: A calling to be a voice for the voiceless

St. Matthias Episcopal Church became my anchor, my outlet, a place where strong leaders and powerful women took an interest in me.”

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Cornell Grow Chautauqua Program Sees Success and Keeps Growing

“This is not a substitute for a priest,” said the Rev. Tay Moss, director of one of Cathy’s architects

Former refugee becomes first Karen person ordained in The Episcopal Church

The Karen people are an ethnic group who have lived in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.

Rochester diocese’s sewing and fiber arts affiliate fosters community, education, creation care

SewGreen@Rochester focuses on three core tenets: community, creativity and sustainability.

Episcopal Divinity School Appoints the Very Rev. Lydia Kelsey Bucklin as new president and dean

“I am deeply honored and humbled to be called as the President and Dean of our beloved EDS.

The National ECW Board met August 5th and voted Gloria Rogers as the National Second Vice President

Ms. Rogers will assume the duties as prescribed within the policies and procedures which will entail her chairing the communications committee.  She speaks of her goal within the ECW as, “to continue to be a follower of Christ, spreading the good news and displaying the way of love as Jesus has taught us.”

J. Cherise Story, RP has been appointed Parliamentarian to the National Board

She is a member of the National Association of Parliamentarians (NAP), having attained the credential of Registered Parliamentarian. She is currently the 2 nd Vice President of the Texas State Association of Parliamentarians, was appointed NAP Leadership Conference Coordinator for 2024 and 2025, and is the president of the Bayshore Unit of the NAP.

Happenings

Province 7 ECW Fall Gathering 2024 – Philadelphia 11 showing

Event Registration is $50/person and includes a light breakfast, and lunch on Saturday, plus light refreshments on Friday evening.
Registration at https://ecwprovince7gather24.rsvpify.com This is a day long event including a presentation by National ECW president, Lisa Bortner and keynote speaker The Rev. Georgene “Gigi” Conner from Christ Church Cathedral, New Orleans. Room are available for those wishing to spend Friday and/or Saturday night. September 27-29, 2024 St. Thomas Episcopal Overland Park, KS

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What Role Did the Episcopal Church Play in Indian Boarding Schools?

The church must acknowledge the intergenerational trauma caused by the Doctrine of Discovery

‘Audacious’ US women priests celebrated

“These ordinations were about making justice: love, about siding with those left out, about standing up against a misuse of power, in this case the power of misogyny

Effort to preserve United Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church receives $497k grant

Despite this diminished integrity of materials and design, the building still retains sufficient integrity to convey its significance.

EMM encourages congregations to become community partners in refugee resettlement

Episcopal Migration Ministries, or EMM, is one of 10 agencies with contracts to facilitate refugee resettlement on behalf of the U.S. State Department

The first female and African American Bishop to preside over Mississippi shares her goals

The greater mission throughout the scriptures throughout the Old and New Testament is a mission of caring for neighbors, and caring for others

2024 Harris-Evans Conference

Organized by the Episcopal Church Women (ECW) in the Diocese of North Carolina. The purpose of this conference, as part of the ECW’s broader mission, is to engage in worship, prayer, study, service, and fellowship, with the aim of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.  The conference is also a part of the ECW’s commitment to aid in foreign and domestic missions, provide scholarships and grants, and organize worship retreats. September 6, 2024 – 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm

Creation Care Retreat – Spiritual Resilience in Days of Trouble

Join with your fellow seekers, activists, and people of faith as we gather to pray, learn, fellowship, and clarify our resolve to live and act faithfully on earth. This retreat will explore a theological framework for “holding” our concern for the Earth, its creatures, elements, and people. The weekend will include presentations, guided meditation, small and large group conversation, singing, and free time. September 12-15, 2024 – Nazareth, KY

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Amid talk of a churchwide ‘clergy shortage,’ dioceses experiment with local leadership models

Church leaders also say recent seminary graduates typically prefer full-time parish employment, at a time when about half of all Episcopal congregations offer only part-time calls

Church sues Colorado town to be able to shelter homeless in trailers, work ‘mandated by God’

“Without this trailer and this church, I wouldn’t be alive…”

Church brings Tolkien into sermons

Tolkien is relating his faith in a way that was contemporary in his time

San Rafael woman gets ordained as Episcopal priest

“I was always really clear that I wanted to do something that was ecclesial,”

Is There Room in the Church for Polyamorous Priests?

This is not a previous era’s war over homosexuality, but rather a present-day struggle over polyamory

Mississippi’s new Episcopal bishop is first woman and first Black person in that role

The Mississippi diocese has about 17,600 members in 87 congregations.

Women priests who were caught in ‘conscience clause’ hope the church remembers their stories

Many Episcopalians “have no idea about what the early women went through,”

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