EPPN Creation Care Series: Renewable Energy
Decades of scientific research has demonstrated that humans have a direct effect on the Earth’s climate. Climate change is driven in large part by changes in human behavior over the last centuries related to carbon emissions and agricultural practices. This change is due, in no small part, to human reliance on fossil fuels, deforestation, and our […]
Bible Study: Proper 15 (C) – 2019
Isaiah 5:1-7 The prophet begins this iconic passage by speaking on behalf of his “beloved” (i.e. the Lord). The love song unfolds, describing a vineyard situated on land that was perfectly suited for a vineyard – lush, fertile ground on a hill with no stones and only “choice vines.” What was expected of the vineyard […]
EPPN Creation Care Series: Clean Water
Water is one of life’s most vital resources. Water pollution, however, is devastating to the environment and to the health and well-being of people in every nation and community. The federal government invests annually in water pollution mitigation and water treatment; however, the current funding is not enough to conduct even routine maintenance and clean […]
Bible Study: Proper 12 (C) – 2019
Hosea 1:2-10 The opening verses of the book of Hosea can easily seem harsh and a bit bizarre. Hosea is told at the start of his prophetic ministry to take “a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom” because the land of Israel had forsaken the Lord. Hosea follows the instructions of God and […]
EPPN Creation Care Series: Carbon Tax
As Christians, we have a responsibility to care for the earth and all of the living things that dwell on it. Scientific research clearly shows that climate change, one of the greatest dangers to creation, is caused, in part, by carbon emissions from human industrialization. Longstanding Episcopal Church policy acknowledges the reality of climate change […]
Information from the Office of Government Relations: Summary of General Convention Policy on Abortion and Women’s Reproductive Health
In response to questions related to The Episcopal Church’s position on abortion, the Office of Government Relations offers this summary of General Convention Policy on Abortion and Women’s Reproductive Health. Additional information, including the text of the official policies and statements of the General Convention and Executive Council of The Episcopal Church may be found […]
Such Good Things, Easter 6 (C) – 2019
O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns […]
Five Affirmations on the Eucharist as Sacrifice (1994)
At the forty-first meeting of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue in the United States of America (ARC/USA), on January 6, 1994, having in mind the significant agreement on the eucharist represented by The Final Report of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission and responding to the request in the Vatican Response to the ARCIC I Final Report for clarification, we […]
Bible Study: Lent 4 (C) – 2019
Joshua 5:9-12 As we continue our journey in Lent, we are invited in a deeper awareness of our bondage to sin and the threshold decision moments in our lives. At this juncture in the Book of Joshua, the Israelites stand on a threshold between the wilderness and the Promised Land. The people have crossed over […]
Bible Study: Maundy Thursday – 2019
Exodus 12:1-4 (5-10), 11-14 “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us, therefore let us keep the feast.” Many Episcopalians are familiar with these words, and Maundy Thursday starts off by reminding us where the image comes from. God’s commandments about the first Passover are no more graphic than the language we use at the communion […]
"Will You Call This a Fast?"
Isaiah 58:1–9a “Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of […]
New Translations of the BCP into Spanish, French and Haitian Creole
March 3: World Mission Sunday
Bible Study: Epiphany 1 (C) – 2019
Isaiah 43:1-7 As we remember Jesus’ baptism in the River Jordan, the prophet Isaiah’s words speak to us about the profound faithfulness of God. In this passage, God promises his chosen people that he will be with them no matter what. During my undergraduate days at a small church-related college in the Midwest, we sang […]
After Eight Days, Holy Name Day – 2019
“After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” – Luke 2:21 January 1, the Feast of the Holy Name, is a day when we encounter an interweaving of spiritual traditions: a mystical attachment […]
How to Be Beloved, Epiphany 1 (C) – 2019
I want to talk a bit about the Baptism of Jesus, about what it means. The place to start, of course, is with the story we just heard. We heard the first part of it just a few weeks ago. Remember how John was at the Jordan River (the place where the people of Israel […]
End of 115th Congress Updates
The House and Senate just passed the Farm Bill that maintains the protections for the vulnerable and hungry that you have been advocating for! This is a significant victory to prevent incredibly harmful changes that were proposed in previous versions. Through the For Such a Time campaign to #PrayFastAct, the Episcopal Church and Evangelical Lutheran […]
Looking Back, Looking Forward
The election is a week away, Congress is in recess, but our advocacy work continues. Every day, all of us in the Office of Government Relations continue to educate and equip Episcopalians to carry out advocacy for the Church based on the policies of General Convention and Executive Council. Our advocacy work (and yours!) continues, […]
Bible Study: Proper 23 (B) – 2018
Job 23:1-9, 16-17 In this reading, we find the ever-faithful Job trusting in his God but nonetheless turning bitter and confused as the realities of life begin to torment him. As his pitiful situation drags on with his friends and family adding to his problems instead of encouraging him, he wakes up heavily burdened with […]