News from our dioceses...
Diocese of AlbanySaint John’s Episcopal Church has been running the One Church Street resource center for over 30 years, and now their planned expansion for their food pantry into a new building is almost complete.
One Church Street has been a staple in the Johnstown community, offering a variety of services to the public including the NOAH (Needy or Alone and Hungry) Program, the Food is Medicine nutritional program, faith-based programs and an extensive public food pantry to help those in need. Earlier this year, the food pantry saw its highest number of meals served to date by providing free meals to 642 people in 242 households within the community. With such a large number of citizens to feed, One Church Street made plans to invest in renovating a previous YMCA building to expand the food pantry’s outreach. Read the whole article > La Iglesia Episcopal en CubaA new church building rises up in Vertientes - Despite shortages of food, electricity, fuel, and any kind of building supplies, Rev. Yannel has been forging ahead with the construction of a beautiful new church - San Juan Evangelista in Vertientes - funded by the generosity of Rev. Jim Hornsby and Saint Paul's Nantucket. With trademark Cuban creativity and ingenuity the team has secured all the basic materials such as building blocks and cement. Driven by faith and perseverance, construction of the new church is progressing well.
The Diocese of New JerseyDiocesan Reparations Commission Making the Case for Reparations - (download a pdf of the article)
The Reparations Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey, co-chaired by Canon Annette Buchanan and Canon Barbie Okamoto Bach, is actively making the case for reparations in the Garden State. Read the whole article > The Diocese of NewarkJustice Ministry Spotlight:
Commission for Justice and Peace By the Ven. Diane Riley Bishop Hughes created the Commission for Justice and Peace in 2021, as part of developing a broad approach to justice ministry for the diocese. Its mission “is to grow the Beloved Community, a community in which everyone is cared for absent of poverty, hunger and hate.” The Commission develops diocesan advocacy and resources that support the beloved community and address issues that challenge it. In short, they teach about the prevalent issues and share how to act. Read more. Iglesia Episcopal Diócesis de Puerto RicoThe Movement of Christianity Courses of the Diocese of Puerto Rico is preparing to bring this wonderful experience to our sister Diocese of Litoral Ecuador.
|
Diocese of Central New YorkStory and 📷: Rev. Shelly Banner
St. James, Pulaski, has begun a new Creation Care project, targeting our local neighbors to become recipients of the fresh vegetables and herbs that have been planted. Using an underutilized strip of Church property, 4 large raised garden beds were built using locally harvested logs. Design and engineering were under the direction of parish Warden Fran Taplin and Vestry person Scott Brosch. The bed frames were filled with soil and ready to plant within 7 days, and initial plantings of crops have been done by parish volunteers. Each harvest product will be sent to the local food pantry, which is staffed by an ecumenical initiative, and distributed to local residents. l'Église Épiscopale d'HaïtiAn Update on Haiti
March 13, 2024 statement from the Office of Government Relations Over the past few years, Haiti has faced substantial political, economic, and humanitarian crises, as well as crises within the Episcopal diocese. The past few days have brought this into sharp relief with violence, instability, and food insecurity escalating. The report continues:
The Diocese of New YorkBishop Heyd is visiting outreach programs in the diocese. A recent visit was to the Guild of St. Margaret soup kitchen at Grace Church in Middletown. The soup kitchen and food pantry have expanded dramatically over the last several years.
The Guild of St. Margaret serves the hungry 365 days a year without charge, qualifications or condescension. The volunteers offer relief in food, hospitality, assistance and acceptance for the physical and spiritual nourishment of our guest. The Guild of St. Margaret is an outreach program of Grace Episcopal Church, a 501 C3. We have been operating continuously since June of 1980 and now serve 2 meals daily on weekdays and 1 meal on Weekend days. Beginning with only a few volunteers preparing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for those who came seeking help, the soup kitchen now serves an average of 130-160 hot meals daily. The Diocese of RochesterMeet the newest bishop of The Episcopal Church.
We rejoice that The Rt. Rev. Kara Wagner Sherer has joined the American Succession as the One Thousand One Hundred and Sixty Sixth bishop. Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry as Chief Consecrator, along with 16 other bishops have just consecrated her as Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester, NY Congratulations to Bishop Kara and the people of the diocese as they begin this new chapter. See all the photos > |
The Convocation of Episcopal Churches in EuropeAt the invitation of the International Bishops Conference of the Old Catholic Churches of the Union on Utrecht, the Anglican/Episcopal bishops of continental Europe meet annually with their Old Catholic counterparts. This year’s meeting is in Prague and is hosted by the Czech Old Catholic Church.
Bishop Mark Edington represented the Episcopal Church and the convocation. The Diocese of Long Island"St. John’s Park Slope describes itself as the second-oldest Episcopal church in Brooklyn, and adds: 'But don’t let our age fool you, we’re just getting started.'
The Rev. Ben DeHart — a native of Princeton, New Jersey, who previously worked in Manhattan and Birmingham, Alabama — was called as rector more than a year ago. 'Restarting churches is what we need to do,' he said. Bishop Lawrence Provenzano of the Diocese of Long Island agreed: 'Fr. Ben DeHart has come to St. John’s with great enthusiasm, vision, and a working ecclesiology that fits perfectly into a renewed sense of mutual responsibility and interdependence within the congregation, the deanery, and the diocese.'" Read the full article by Neva Rae Fox in The Living Church > Diocese of the Virgin IslandsSt. John's and St. Peter's on St. Croix had a joint beach worship service
The Episcopal Dioceses of Western New York & Northwestern PennsylvaniaEarly most mornings at the recently concluded General Convention of the Episcopal Church, Bishop Sean Rowe, the Rev. Adam Trambley and the Rev. Deacon Lillian Davis-Wilson gathered around a rectangle of tables in a softly lit hotel ballroom with the other members of Committee 18, the joint legislative committee on the church’s clergy disciplinary canons.
Outside of this room, the Dioceses of Northwestern Pennsylvania and Western New York were having an exhilarating convention. Rowe was elected to be the next presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. Davis-Wilson received the first Presidential Service Award ever awarded by Julia Ayala Harris, president of the House of Deputies. But on these mornings, the trio from the partnership diocese immersed themselves in the painstaking and highly technical task of trying to improve Title IV, the clergy disciplinary canons. Those rules have recently been a source of controversy and concern across the church, especially in the ways they are applied, or not applied, in the cases of bishops. What the committee had accomplished by convention’s end was not as moving as the admission of Navajoland as a missionary diocese, nor the progress toward including rites for the blessing of same-sex marriages in the Book of Common Prayer. But its work was closely watched by observers who are concerned about the deterioration of confidence in the church’s clergy disciplinary procedures. Read more > |
Visit the 13 Dioceses of the province at their websites:
Albany, Central New York, Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe,
La Iglesia Episcopal en Cuba (no official website yet), l'Église Épiscopale d'Haiti, Long Island, New Jersey, New York, Newark, Iglesia Episcopal Diócesis de Puerto Rico, Rochester, Virgin Islands, The Episcopal Dioceses of Western New York & Northwestern Pennsylvania
La Iglesia Episcopal en Cuba (no official website yet), l'Église Épiscopale d'Haiti, Long Island, New Jersey, New York, Newark, Iglesia Episcopal Diócesis de Puerto Rico, Rochester, Virgin Islands, The Episcopal Dioceses of Western New York & Northwestern Pennsylvania