Summary

WKRG5-CBS – Faith Time: The challenges of new leadership and firsts – what are the challenges a new reverend or pastor has when coming to a new church?

Episcopal News Service – Episcopal delegation advocates gender justice at 65th UN conference on women’s rights –  UNCSW, marked the start of the conference on March 15 with a virtual prayer service…

KNWA-FOX24 – Local churches & organizations help relieve medical debt for Arkansans – A national movement is being localized and it is all to hep families struggling with medical debt. RIP Medical Debt is a national movement to help people pay off their medical bills. A northwest Arkansas church and non-profit are part of a larger group trying to help families in our community.

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Faith Time: The challenges of new leadership and firsts

WKRG5-CBS – Mobile, AL

Joining us this morning is the Reverend Dr. Mary Jayne Ledgerwood, Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Mobile. She’s the new Rector of Trinity Church and also the first woman ever in their 175-year history to serve in this role. Let’s talk in general first –what are the challenges a new reverend or pastor has when coming to a new church?

Guest: I was called to Trinity in October of last year, which means my discernment began many months before. As we all know a year ago we were at the beginning of the pandemic, at a time truly of the unknown. Crazy enough, it was in the midst of all this that I began deeply and prayerfully to discern what ultimately became for me God’s call to Trinity. Entering into a relationship with the good people of any parish is a time of listening and sharing, and, of course, worshiping together, which, certainly was made more challenging in the time of corona! One of the first things the vestry and I decided together was to offer in-person worship again. They had not been together in worship for seven months. Through the now five months since we’ve been together, we’ve also been able to add one more in-person service and upgrade our media ministry to broadcast live through Facebook and soon YouTube. We are safely adding Christian Formation for all ages, including our nursery, so we can begin to share the love of community and our life and ministry together again. […]

Episcopal delegation advocates gender justice at 65th UN conference on women’s rights

Episcopal News Service

Members of the Episcopal delegation to the 65th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, or UNCSW, marked the start of the conference on March 15 with a virtual prayer service, affirming their commitment to the advocacy work they will be doing for the next two weeks on behalf of women and girls around the world.

The U.N. conference, dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women, has taken place every year since 1946, though last year’s was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Episcopal and Anglican delegates have participated in UNCSW since at least 2000, advocating for the priorities identified by the presiding bishop and the Anglican Communion.

For 2021, there are six Episcopal Church delegates named by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and eight Anglican Communion delegates – each representing a different Anglican province. There is also a small delegation representing Episcopal Relief & Development this year. The Episcopal delegates observe the official meetings, represent the presiding bishop and the church, meet with U.N. officials and representatives of member states, and collaborate with interfaith and ecumenical partners. They also take what they’ve learned back to their own communities and pass it along to other women, said Lynnaia Main, The Episcopal Church’s representative to the U.N. […]

Local churches & organizations help relieve medical debt for Arkansans

KNWA-FOX24 – Fayetteville, AR

A national movement is being localized and it is all to hep families struggling with medical debt.

RIP Medical Debt is a national movement to help people pay off their medical bills. A northwest Arkanssas church and non-profit are part of a larger group trying to help families in our community.

Sara Milford is the Reverend at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Bentonville.

“If there’s a chance we could alleviate however we could do it just gotta follow where I’m led,” she said.

She has joined forces with founder of Beer and Hymns, Ken Weatherford to raise money for Community Arkansas Debt Relief.

“There are so many- especially women who are affected by medical debt,” Weatherford said. “Medical debt contributes to 60% of all bankruptcies.”

There are ways to qualify to get this help: being two times federal poverty line, having more debt than assets and/or having debt that is greater than 5% of annual income. […]