Anglican Bishop’s Son Faces Deportation To El Salvador

From Huffington-

The son of El Salvador’s top Anglican leader is facing deportation from the U.S. back to his home country, where his father says gang members have threatened to murder him.

Bishop David Alvarado’s son, 34-year-old Josue Alvarado, is currently in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a detention center in Ohio, Reuters reports. The bishop told the Episcopal News Service that his son sought refuge in the U.S. in 2016 after being kidnapped and receiving death threats from gangs in El Salvador. 

“We are sad and worried because he can be deported and he is in great danger here in the country,” Alvarado told ENS on Friday.

Gang members forced the bishop’s son, who worked as a taxi driver, to drive them around and distribute weapons and drugs, his father told Reuters. When the younger Alvarado refused to continue, he received death threats, the bishop said. His son eventually filed a complaint with the police, Reuters reports.

More here-

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/josue-alvarado-el-salvador-deportation_n_5e208cdcc5b673621f72149d

Secular group blasts National Cathedral Bible blessing as 'vile, Christian supremacy’

From Christian Post-

A secular legal organization announced its outrage over the blessing of a Bible for the swearing-in of commanders of the newly created Space Force, calling it a “shocking and repulsive display of only the most vile, exclusivist, fundamentalist Christian supremacy.”

On Sunday, the Washington National Cathedral held a ceremony to bless a King James Bible that will be used to swear in all commanders of America’s newest military branch, the U.S. Space Command, if they so choose.

"Today @WNCathedral blessed the official Bible for the new @SpaceForceDoD, which will be used to swear in all commanders of America's newest military branch," the cathedral's official account tweeted Sunday.

The Rev. Carl Wright, the Episcopal Church's bishop suffragan for armed services and federal ministries, offered the blessing as Maj. Gen. Steven Schaick, Air Force chief of chaplains, held the Bible donated by the Museum of the Bible in Washington, according to The Washington Post.

More here-

https://www.christianpost.com/news/secular-group-attacks-bible-blessing-at-national-cathedral-calling-it-vile.html

St. Andrew’s Church in New Kensington holds final service for its faithful

From Pittsburgh-

St. Andrew’s Church in New Kensington has sat empty for seven years. On Thursday, roughly 30 parishioners filled the pews one last time.

Together they prayed, received Communion, and listened as Episcopal Bishop Dorsey W.M. McConnell deconsecrated the 71-year-old building, which is in the process of being sold.
“This is a hard thing to do under any circumstances,” McConnell said.

The church, part of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, has been without an active congregation for several years.

It was last used by a congregation of the Anglican Church in North America, which moved out of the building in 2013. The original St. Andrew’s congregation was among the 42 parishes that left the Pittsburgh Episcopal Diocese in 2008 to join the Anglicans.

The diocese attempted to restart a parish at the church after the Anglican congregation left, but it was unsuccessful, the Rev. Canon Kimberly Karashin said. She said congregations that looked at the church told the diocese it was too big and would be too expensive to maintain.

More here-

https://triblive.com/local/valley-news-dispatch/st-andrews-church-in-new-kensington-holds-final-service-for-its-faithful/

‘Grown-up’ Primates’ Meeting affirms Anglican links with Canterbury

From The Church Times-

AT THE Lambeth Conference this year, bishops will “draw a line under some of the inward-looking approach of the past”, the Archbishop of Canterbury predicted this week at the close of the Primates’ Meeting in Jordan. Primates praised the “mature” and “grown-up” discussions at this week’s meeting.

Primates from 33 of the 40 Provinces were present. Three — those of Nigeria, Rwanda, and Uganda — chose not to attend, while others were detained by illness or other difficulties. Just one woman was present: the new Canadian Primate, the Most Revd Linda Nicholls.

“We were acutely aware of the ongoing tensions within the Anglican Communion,” the Primates said in a communiqué issued on Wednesday afternoon. “However, we were also profoundly conscious of the Holy Spirit in our midst, drawing us to walk together.”

At a press conference on Wednesday, held before the communiqué was released, Archbishop Welby said that the formation of new Churches that claim an Anglican identity, including the latest, the Church of Confessing Anglicans in New Zealand (News, 25 October 2019), had not been discussed. There had been no desire to discuss “those negative aspects”, he said.

More here-

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2020/17-january/news/world/grown-up-primates-meeting-affirms-anglican-links-with-canterbury

Sunnyside’s All Saints’ Episcopal Church to close in February

From Long Island-

After the congregation of Sunnyside’s All Saints’ Church dwindled to about 20 members, the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island announced that it will close the church as a parish congregation on Feb. 23.  

The ministries in Sunnyside and Long Island City have been running since 1928. The diocese said that it would examine how to continue to serving western Queens, but given the size of All Saints’ current congregation, which shrunk from 100 members in 1998, it can no longer afford to maintain the property or support staff salaries.

The diocese has no plans to sell the property, located at 43-12 46th St., and it will continue to use the church building for at least a year. 

“Our diocesan director of real estate, Haiko Cornelissen, will be handling rental and lease arrangements. The head of our Congregational Support Office, Canon Claire Woodley, will continue to provide consultation as she has regarding All Saints’ during the last 18 months. The priest-in-charge, the Rev. Gabe Lamazares, will be moving to North Carolina,” said Rev. Lawrence Provenzano, the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island.

More here-

https://qns.com/story/2020/01/15/sunnysides-all-saints-episcopal-church-to-close-in-february/

‘An act of charity’: Virginia bishop defends parish hosting Episcopalian consecration

From Southern Virginia-

Bishop Barry Knestout of the Diocese of Richmond has issued a statement responding to concerns that a local parish church is to host an Episcopalian consecration of a female bishop.

The online petition, titled “Stop Ordination of Female Episcopalian ‘Bishop’ at Catholic Church” refers to the upcoming consecration of the Rev. Susan B. Haynes as the new bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia. It has attracted nearly 2,000 signatures. 

In a statement Wednesday, Bishop Knestout called the “offer of hospitality to a Christian neighbor in need” an “act of charity and well within the teachings of ecumenism and the norms provided by the Church for ecumenical activities.”

The event is scheduled to occur on Feb. 1, 2020 at St. Bede Catholic Church in Williamsburg, Virginia. Haynes was elected an Episcopalian bishop on Sept. 21.

More here-

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/an-act-of-charity-virginia-bishop-defends-parish-hosting-episcopalian-consecration-92025

How Katherine Sonderegger finds delight in a humble God

From Christian Century-

Friends and former students of theologian Katherine Sonderegger combine affectionate diminutives and terms of great forcefulness when describing her. Erika Takacs calls her former teacher at Virginia Theological Seminary “a perfectly darling little leprechaun.” Fleming Rutledge, a fellow Episcopal priest, says Sonde­regger is “almost like a nun in her total devotion to prayer and study,” with “the mind of a steel trap, but the manner of a somewhat shy, retiring, grandmotherly type.”

Former student Benson Shelton describes her as a “Yoda figure,” a professor who would turn up late to class because she’d stopped at a petting zoo or saw a perfect flowering bush. Yet Shelton also remembers how Sonderegger eviscerated a visiting theologian with whom she disagreed: “She might as well have cut his legs off and handed them to him.” Rutledge says she is not sure how to reconcile the darling saintliness and the daring, merciless mind: “She is a curious person.”

More here-

https://www.christiancentury.org/article/critical-essay/how-katherine-sonderegger-finds-delight-humble-god#disqus_thread

Episcopal Church in Alabama buys, forgives $8.1 million of medical debt

From Alabama (Episcopal Cafe)-

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Mountain Brook, in partnership with the Diocese of Alabama, recently bought and forgave $8.1 million in medical debt.
Over the Mountain Journal reports:

Over the holidays, roughly 6,500 Alabama households received a notice in the mail that their medical debts had been purchased and forgiven by the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama.

Those letters were the culmination of a fundraising campaign undertaken by Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church in Mountain Brook, which commemorated its 70th anniversary by eliminating $8.1 million in medical debts throughout the Birmingham metro area and its surrounding counties.

…

The Episcopal Diocese of Alabama quickly got on board, donating just more than $10,000 to kick off fundraising efforts. The church then raised $68,000 more, mostly from parishioners, though others in the community pitched in as well, Nations said. Because hospitals sell off unpaid bills at discounted rates, the church and RIP Medical Debt were able to buy $8.1 million in debt for just $78,000.

More here-

 https://www.episcopalcafe.com/episcopal-church-in-alabama-buys-forgives-8-1-million-of-medical-debt/?fbclid=IwAR3k-1Q-JCP0nWa7HZbyDiJdTRv_Xa1maG-P0tYWK8ujDxwzVR7d64WLF-o

Darien’s St. Paul’s settles lawsuit, to move forward in new location

From Connecticut-

St. Paul’s Church in Darien has settled its previous lawsuits between parishioners and church leadership and will relocate from its Mansfield Avenue home.

The vestry and wardens of the Parish of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, and the Directors of St. Paul’s-Darien Foundation, Inc., recently announced the end of all litigation with the Episcopal Church in Connecticut and The Episcopal Church. All parties have withdrawn their respective pending civil actions in both the Connecticut Appellate Court and the Superior Court. The parties’ settlement agreement and release of claims was reached after a vigorous and sometimes thorny mediation conducted between Nov. 6 and Dec. 10, 2019, by Judge Terence A. Zemetis, according to a jointly released press release.

St. Paul’s will now continue as an autonomous non-denominational Christian church and will soon complete its reorganization.

More here-

https://www.darientimes.com/news/article/Darien-s-St-Paul-s-settles-lawsuit-to-move-14971460.php

United Methodists talk more about potential split over same-sex marriage, gay clergy

From Pittsburgh-

As Methodists in Western Pennsylvania consider the future of their denomination, a group that has proposed an amicable split explained the proposal in more detail Monday.

Known as the “Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation,” the proposal allows for the formation of a new “traditionalist” Methodist denomination that would not sanction the performance of same-sex weddings or the ordination of openly gay clergy, and the continuation of a presumably smaller but more liberal United Methodist Church.

Questions having to do with human sexuality, LGBT persons and biblical authority have roiled the United Methodist Church for decades but, until now, have not led to formal divisions within the global Protestant denomination — the second-largest in the United States.

More here-

 https://triblive.com/local/regional/united-methodists-talk-more-about-potential-split-over-same-sex-marriage-gay-clergy/

Space Force Bible Blessing At National Cathedral Sparks Outrage

From Capital Public Radio-

The blessing of what's being called "the official Bible for the new U.S. Space Force" at the Washington National Cathedral on Sunday is drawing an outpouring of criticism on social media and condemnation from a prominent religious freedom advocacy group. 

"The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) condemns, in as full-throated a manner as is humanly possible, the shocking and repulsive display of only the most vile, exclusivist, fundamentalist Christian supremacy," MRFF founder and president Mikey Weinstein wrote in a statementdenouncing the Bible blessing. "The utilization of a Christian bible to 'swear in' commanders of the new Space Force or any other [Department of Defense] branch at ANY level is completely violative of the bedrock separation of church and state mandate of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution."

In a tweet on Sunday, the Washington National Cathedral posted a statement describing the Bible that was blessed during a morning service as a Space Force official Bible "which will be used to swear in all commanders of America's newest military branch."

More here-

http://www.capradio.org/news/npr/story?storyid=796028336

Church App Helps Protect Against Human Trafficking

From Uganda-

A new mobile app has been launched by the Church of Uganda to help young people avoid falling into human trafficking when they seek work abroad.

The new app is called Just Good Work and was developed by clergyman Paul Davis.

Archbishop Stanley Ntagali says high levels of unemployment in Uganda had created desperate tendencies among some young people, tempting them to seek undefined job opportunities.
The Archbishop told Anglican News the app will give Ugandans critical information on working abroad in their own language.

Developer Paul Davis says the app was created primarily to act as a tool for information, pastoral care, prayer, teaching, and community empowerment.

More here-

https://vision.org.au/radio/news/church-app-helps-protect-against-human-trafficking/

Vancouver Island’s Anglican bishop retires this spring

From Canada-

An Anglican bishop known for his progressive attitude towards reconciliation and the LGBTQ community is retiring after six years of leadership.

Logan McMenamie has been the bishop of the Anglican Diocese of British Columbia – comprised of parishes across Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and the community of Kingcome – since 2014. Prior to that title, McMenamie was dean of Victoria’s Christ Church Cathedral.

Set to retire in April, the bishop is well known for his commitment to reconciliation and healing. In 2015, while standing at the site of the the demolished St. Michael’s Indian Residential School, McMenamie made a formal apology to survivors of the residential school system.

“Reconciliation is a journey,” McMenamie says. “The work we’ve done with de-colonizing ourselves, realizing we came as a colonial church, and what does it mean to de-colonize ourselves and how will that be different in the future?”

More here-

https://www.vicnews.com/news/vancouver-islands-anglican-bishop-retires-this-spring/

The Methodists, the mediator and the divorce plan

From Pittsburgh-

It was a divorce mediation unlike any other, with a small group of diverse leaders shuttling back and forth to Washington, D.C., from the far corners of the country and the world, trying as best they could to cushion the breakup of a dysfunctional family of 13 million.

What emerged on Jan. 3, after months of talks, was a plan to amicably divide the United Methodist Church into at least two main churches, each with a mandate to pursue a different vision of theology, biblical interpretation and the role of LGBTQ persons in marriage and ministry.

Sixteen people — including bishops from the United Methodists’ American and foreign conferences, as well as advocates from groups at the Methodist left, right and center — met at the offices of a Washington law firm three times over the latter part of 2019, and held video conference calls in between.

More here-

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/faith-religion/2020/01/13/United-Methodist-Church-separation-protocol-lgbtq-ordination-gay-marriage/stories/202001120048

Religious Questions: Why do we sit in pews?

From Chattanooga-

If you think pews are uncomfortable, just be thankful there is at least something to sit on. Until the Middle Ages, churchgoers had to stand for the service. This practice had a theological background, according to a history by St. Nicholas Church in Connecticut. Faith is intended to be an active practice and Christians are taught to stand in the presence of their master, rather than sit like an audience.

The few people who had seats brought their own, though the tradition of lengthy services was not common, according to an 1844 argument by John Coke Fowler about abolishing pews.

The feudal system of the time bled into the religious landscape. Wealthy people who paid for church buildings were given prominent places in the church to sit and passes those seats down to their children, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.

More here-

https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/life/faith/story/2020/jan/10/why-do-we-sit-pews/512667/

Holy Smoke podcast: has the Church of England surrendered to ‘soft socialism’?

From Holy Smoke (with video)-

Just before Christmas, Dr Gavin Ashenden, a former Chaplain to the Queen, converted to Catholicism. But that’s not the main subject of my interview with him in the first Holy Smoke episode of 2020. In it, he deplores the Church of England’s surrender to secularism under Archbishop Justin Welby, who won’t enjoy his former colleague’s assessment of his talents.

Dr Ashenden may not be Anglican any more, but he does think that the Established Church has a historic mission – and that its ‘middle managers’ have betrayed it in favour of ‘soft socialism’. To which I reply that Pope Francis is busy hoisting the white flag, or perhaps a red one, on the other side of the Tiber. At which point our conversation takes an unexpected turn. Don’t miss it!

https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2020/01/holy-smoke-podcast-has-the-church-of-england-surrendered-to-soft-socialism/

How American Anglicans Went Mainstream

From Philip Jenkins-

But what strikes me most forcefully is the absolutely normal and mainstream way in which people describe this affiliation. This is interesting for me because I have in a sense lived through this story over the past twenty years or so, and I am still used to the earlier idea of American Anglicanism as something new, breakaway, experimental, even radical…. whatever word you like. Back in 2005 (say) if you were talking with American Anglicans, they were very conscious of the novelty of their enterprise, and were keen to talk about the causes and issues motivating them. Today, there’s nothing of the sort. “I’m an Anglican” has exactly the same weight as declaring membership of any other established tradition – Lutheran, Baptist, Episcopalian, whatever. It’s just part of the religious landscape.

Equally fascinating for me is the lack of any obvious sense that things were ever different. If you are an Anglican younger than forty or so, there seems to be little sense of how recent or novel or daring that whole project is, or how and why that split came with the Episcopal church. Or even, dare I say, that such a split or breakaway ever occurred. I base that remark on anecdote and impression, rather than a sophisticated scientific survey, but I think it’s fair. As in other denominations, people don’t seem that interested in how that church or group got there, or indeed what was the passionate point of principle that led to the group being founded in the first place.

More here-

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2020/01/how-anglicans-went-mainstream/

Anglican Primates gather in Jordan for “very strategic meeting” ahead of Lambeth Conference

From ACNS-

The leaders of 36 of the Anglican Communion’s 40 member churches will gather in the Middle East next week for what has been described as “a very strategic meeting.” The chief pastors of the Communion – the senior archbishops, moderators and presiding bishops of the Anglican provinces – will meet from Monday 13 January to Wednesday 15 January in formal session. A preliminary meeting will be held on Sunday 12 January for new Primates, elected or appointed to their position since the previous Primates’ Meeting in October 2017.
 
On Thursday 16 January, the primates will take part in separate pilgrimages, beginning together at the site of Jesus’ baptism with a Eucharist and reaffirmation of baptism vows, before one group heads to Salt and Mount Nebo while another crosses to the west bank of the River Jordan for visits to Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

The Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, Suheil Dawani, is hosting the meeting in his diocese which includes Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

More here-

https://www.anglicannews.org/features/2020/01/anglican-primates-gather-in-jordan-for-very-strategic-meeting-ahead-of-lambeth-conference.aspx?fbclid=IwAR1wXPGsUNoGDGlpAdkhub58PW-Jecg_YkgKPfWBUCL_Nm4PIk5m1k32r8M

Program helping Lackawanna County inmates coming to Scranton church

From Scranton-

A church in Lackawanna County is looking at starting a re-entry program for inmates.
 
Its goal is to teach lessons useful for life after prison. St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Scranton is more than a place of worship. It’s also a place of healing.

“What we’re looking to do is offer a program that will give folks a chance to get back on their feet in society,” Reverend Rebecca Barnes of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church said.

Barnes is working to bring Cypress House Bakery to her church. Using the tools she has now, an industrial kitchen will be a temporary place for current and recently released inmates to make and sell sandwiches for take-out, while earning $15 an hour.

“Because of the level of incarceration in our county, there is a great need for programs when people come out of the prison system,” Barnes said.

More here-

https://www.pahomepage.com/top-stories/program-helping-lackawanna-county-inmates-coming-to-scranton-church/

Sandy Springs’ Highpoint Episcopal church to close; property’s future unclear

From Atlanta-

Highpoint Episcopal Community Church is closing after serving more than a half-century as a place of worship and a community center for Sandy Springs’ High Point neighborhood.

In the wake of failed, four-year effort to rebrand and resurrect the former Church of the Atonement amid a dwindling congregation, the church will hold its final Sunday service on Jan. 12. The future of the 7.5-acre property at 4945 High Point Road is said to be unclear beyond that.

Officials with the church and the Buckhead-based Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta did not immediately respond to comment requests about the closure, which was announced on the church website. But Duffy Hickey, a longtime parishioner whose wife Robin served in various leadership roles, said it came down to some simple calculations.

“We didn’t have enough fannies in the seats and enough money in the coffers,” said Hickey.

More here-

https://www.reporternewspapers.net/2020/01/07/sandy-springs-highpoint-episcopal-church-to-close-propertys-future-unclear/

After decades of fighting, United Methodists avoid a visit from Ghost of the Episcopal Future?

From Get Religion-

It’s the Methodist question I have heard the most from GetReligion readers (and even locals here in East Tennessee) over the weekend.

I will paraphrase: If the conservatives have been winning the big votes at United Methodist conferences for the past couple of decades, then why are news reports saying that the traditionalists have agreed to “leave the United Methodist Church”?

This is the response that popped into my head a few hours ago after round of news reports, Twitter and online buzz: Basically, I think conservative Methodists have been visited by the Ghost of the Episcopal Future. 

Methodist traditionalists are not interested in 50 years of hand-to-hand legal conflict with the entrenched United Methodist principalities and powers. Hold that thought. Meanwhile, I will admit that it’s hard to see the logic of this statement in any one news report. Let’s start with some math from the Associated Press:

More here-

https://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2020/1/6/after-decades-of-fighting-united-methodists-avoid-a-visit-from-ghost-of-episcopalians-future

Settlement reached in St. Paul’s Darien, Connecticut, cases

From ENS-

On Dec. 10, 2019, the Episcopal Church in Connecticut settled three legal cases involving the former wardens and vestry members of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Darien. The settlement will result in a withdrawal of all pending litigation, bringing to a close a period in which the former wardens and vestry members filed five different lawsuits against ECCT since 2005.

The most recent litigation began in late 2017 when the former wardens and vestry members refused to adhere to the constitution and canons of The Episcopal Church with respect to church governance and attempted to remove their duly chosen rector, the Rev. George I. Kovoor. When bishop diocesan of ECCT, the Rt. Rev. Ian T. Douglas, chose to support Kovoor and enforce the canons of The Episcopal Church, the former wardens and vestry members sued to have their rector removed. 

Further, when the former wardens and vestry members refused to participate in church ordered reconciliation efforts, the ECCT Annual Convention unanimously changed the status of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church putting it directly under the supervision, direction and control of the bishop in October, 2018. This occasioned a second lawsuit by the former wardens and vestry members seeking control of the church and its property. Both of these lawsuits were heard in Stamford Superior Court in late 2018 and early 2019 and were dismissed by the court in the spring of 2019. The former wardens and vestry members had appealed these decisions.

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2020/01/06/settlement-reached-in-st-pauls-darien-connecticut-cases/

Candidates for the 10th Bishop of ECMN

From Minnesota-

The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota is pleased to announce a final slate of five candidates for the 10th Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota. These candidates will stand for election on Saturday, January 25th, 2020.

Faithfully,

The Rev. Deborah Brown, President, ECMN Standing Committee

More here-

https://mnbishopsearch.org/final-slate/

United Methodist Church announces plan to split over same-sex marriage

From The Washington Post-

The United Methodist Church is expected to split into two denominations in an attempt to end a years-long, contentious fight over same-sex marriage, church leaders announced Friday. The historic schism would divide the nation’s third-largest religious denomination.

Leaders of the church said they had agreed to spin off a “traditionalist Methodist” denomination, which would continue to oppose same-sex marriage and to refuse ordination to LGBT clergy, while allowing the remaining portion of the United Methodist Church to permit same-sex marriage and LGBT clergy for the first time in its history.

The plan would need to be approved in May at the denomination’s worldwide conference.
The writers of the plan called the division “the best means to resolve our differences, allowing each part of the Church to remain true to its theological understanding, while recognizing the dignity, equality, integrity, and respect of every person.”

The United Methodist Church is the United States’s largest mainline Protestant denomination. The church has fought bitterly about LGBT inclusion for years, and leaders often feared the fight would lead to a schism.

More here-

 https://www.timestelegram.com/news/20200105/united-methodist-church-announces-plan-to-split-over-same-sex-marriage

Some churches get creative with downsizing issues

From Florida-

But one church is sitting on several billions of real estate – Trinity Wall Street.

The Episcopal church founded in 1696 in New York City was gifted in 1705 with 215 acres from Queen Anne. Once farmland in Lower Manhattan, it is now some of the highest-priced real estate in the country.

Most of the land was sold over the centuries, but the congregation is still one of the largest landowners in the city with 14 acres valued in 2015 at $3.5 billion. The holdings include 5.5 million square feet of commercial space in Hudson Square that in 2011 brought the church $158 million in revenue and $38 million in net income.

Though the value of the property has waxed and waned over the centuries, Trinity is credited with a recent revival of the Hudson Square area as a creative hub. That caught the eye of the Walt Disney Company, which has signed a 99-year lease with the church for its new headquarters. The deal is valued at $650 million.

More here-

https://www.postbulletin.com/life/lifestyles/some-churches-get-creative-with-downsizing-issues/article_8aa95502-2f5e-11ea-95df-17a3948558e6.html

St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church members feed the hungry in lay ministry

From South Carolina-

A thin man wearing hospital clothes sits at a small table inside St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church.

“I haven’t eaten in two days,” he said after answering questions from Jean Brown, an intake volunteer who fills out paperwork.

The man is one of about 20 people waiting in line at any given time on a Tuesday morning in the fall outside the Waters Avenue church across from Daffin Park.

The people can work, but most people receiving food have to make a tough choice: Pay bills or buy food, according to church food ministry director Judy Berube.

“We’re meeting that need they have so they can pay bills,” Berube said.

‘Content with anything’

Some people in line look polished, like they are dressed for church service. Others wear worn clothes, and around noon at least three people wait using walkers.

More here-

https://www.blufftontoday.com/news/20200106/st-michael-and-all-angels-episcopal-church-members-feed-hungry-in-lay-ministry

The Story of Rev. Reginald Grant Barrow

From Barbados-

As we commence the celebration of We Gathering 2020 – a year to rediscover who we Barbadians really are as a people, to recommit to our core values and to meaningfully deepen the connection between our island nation and its Diaspora – it behoves us to reflect on some of the significant contributions made by heroic “Diaspora Bajans” to the countries that they migrated to and how those contributions ultimately redounded to the benefit of their Barbadian homeland.

And since We Gathering 2020 is commencing in the parish of St Lucy in the month of the centenary of the birth of the Rt Excellent Errol Walton Barrow – a native of the parish of St Lucy – what better historical personality could there be to start with than the father of Errol Walton Barrow – Bishop Reginald Grant Barrow!

More here-

https://barbadostoday.bb/2020/01/03/the-story-of-rev-reginald-grant-barrow/

Trinity Wall Street Rector Abruptly Resigns

From The Living Church-

The rector of the richest Episcopal Church in the world abruptly resigned January 3, saying he and his wife want to “enjoy some sabbath rest to open our hearts to God’s call for the next chapter of our ministry together.”

The Rev. Dr. William Lupfer, rector of Trinity Wall Street Episcopal Church for the past five years, announced his departure in a letter to the Trinity staff, which was obtained by TLC.

The church’s vicar, the Rev. Phillip A. Jackson, will become priest-in-charge on Monday, January 6, while a search begins for the 19th rector of Trinity. The vestry announced that appointment in a separate letter, saying the move was made “with the full support of the Vestry” by the Rt. Rev. Andrew Dietsche, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York.

More here-

https://livingchurch.org/2020/01/03/trinity-wall-street-rector-abruptly-resigns/?fbclid=IwAR1-7L31hkkIbR1_f5lP4tiwScRlb3OoNLUmlx8uHLxp1PMPMd3Y81RePQM

United Methodist Church Announces Plan to Split Over Same-Sex Marriage

From The New York Times-

A group of leaders of the United Methodist Church, the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States, announced on Friday a plan that would formally split the church, citing “fundamental differences” over same-sex marriage after years of division.

The plan would sunder a denomination with 13 million members globally — roughly half of them in the United States — and create at least one new “traditionalist Methodist” denomination that would continue to ban same-sex marriage as well as the ordination of gay and lesbian clergy. 

It seems likely that the majority of the denomination’s churches in the United States would remain in the existing United Methodist Church, which would become a more liberal-leaning institution as conservative congregations worldwide depart. 

More here-

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/03/us/methodist-split-gay-marriage.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR2-JiztVNR4ehwXL0fOCCXKAQuq59YdBRqRg1vh1MYD9vJP7FmbHy31Uqg 

and here-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2020/01/03/united-methodist-church-is-expected-split-over-gay-marriage-disagreement-fracturing-nations-third-largest-denomination/?fbclid=IwAR0S4OCECj-VPz7hB5z8k0Ziwf_PcETnDr87V09Y0O6g-ZSlTDciv8cLq6A

Force For Change Rose Hudson-Wilkin On Becoming Britain’s First Black Female Bishop

From British Vogue-

On 23 April 1994, approximately a month after it became possible for women to do so, I was ordained as a priest in Lichfield Cathedral. I remember it clearly. It was a bittersweet day. We left the ceremony through the great west doors, and I can still see the image of the other women in attendance, those who had given a lifetime of ministry, but, because of their age, had now missed their own opportunity to join the priesthood. That day, I felt the same emotions that surround giving birth: you’ve gone to the hospital, made it through labour, and there you are in a room with a beautiful baby, overjoyed, and yet very aware that in the next room or cubicle there may be a woman who has lost hers.

Faith is who we are. It’s not a coat or a hat – something that we put on and take off depending on the weather. I was 14 years old and living in Montego Bay, Jamaica, when I first had a sense that I was being called to ministry. For me, the vocation was about leadership, pastorally caring for people and guiding in the liturgy. It was quite strange, given that no women were allowed to occupy such roles then, to feel called to something that didn’t exist.

More here-

https://www.vogue.co.uk/news/article/rose-hudson-wilkin-first-black-female-bishop-uk?fbclid=IwAR1RJtHXdr0mK-iqpw9splFU4UbK-5hdI8stOXBxjfwF3tRZwZ79JTYoB-o