Bishops Accept "Statement of Clarification" about Marriage
The 78th General Convention approved two marriage liturgies for trial use, along with a revision of the marriage canon, allowing same-sex couples to be married in The Episcopal Church beginning on First Sunday of Advent 2015, when both resolutions take effect. Episcopal News Service and the House of Deputies News carried the story. The trial-use marriage services are to be used […]
Ambassador for Christ, Lent 4 (C) – 2016
The Prodigal Son is a story familiar to all of us and movingly depicted in art, drama and dance. We like stories like this; ones with happy endings where people come to their senses and are restored to the family. But that isn’t how it always happens, is it? We know of many estrangements between […]
Visit to Church of the Epiphany's Welcome Table
“Jerusalem, my happy home, when shall I come to thee? When shall my sorrows have an end? Thy joy when shall I see? Jerusalem, Jerusalem, God grant that I may see thine endless joy, and of the same partaker ever be!” Earlier in October, I took a trip to Washington, DC, as part of a […]
Bible Study: Advent 4 (C) – 2015
Micah 5:2-5a Micah was one of the famous 8th century BCE prophets in the Old Testament (alongside Isaiah, Amos, and Hosea). Micah was primarily concerned with preaching justice and calling people to action while proclaiming a message of hope. Readers may associate Micah with his most famous verse: “And what does the Lord require of you […]
Stir-up / Traditional Holiday Food
“Stir up,” from the Latin “excita,” reminds us of God’s power moving in the world, but the stirring up also connects Advent to preparing time-honored recipes for the season. In older versions of the Book of Common Prayer, the collect for the final Sunday before Advent asked God to “stir up thy power…and come,” and so that […]
Sermon at installation of the 27th Presiding Bishop
All Saints’ Day, November 1, 2015 A Sermon Preached by the Most Reverend Michael B. Curry The Installation of the 27th Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church and Primate The Cathedral of Saints Peter & Paul, Washington, D.C. In the Name of our loving, liberating and life giving God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. It […]
Bible Study: Proper 25 (B) – 2015
Job 42:1-6, 10-17 If any biblical character endured suffering, it was undoubtedly Job. He lost crops, property, family members, and his health. Job must have had that uncertain feeling that any of us experience when we lose someone or something important to us. Why would God let this happen? Where is God in all of […]
Presiding Bishop's testimony to Senate on global warming
God has not given us a spirit of fear, but power, and of love, and of a sound mind. – 2 Timothy 1:7 Good Morning. Madam Chair, Senator Inhofe, my fellow panelists, it is my great honor and privilege to join you here this morning. I appreciate your kind introduction. I am the Most Reverend […]
A Letter to The Episcopal Church From the Presiding Bishop, President of the House of Deputies
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and President of the House of Deputies the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings have issued a letter calling on Episcopal congregations to participate in “Confession, Repentance, and Commitment to End Racism Sunday” on September 6.
Bishops Accept “Statement of Clarification” about Marriage
The 78th General Convention approved two marriage liturgies for trial use, along with a revision of the marriage canon, allowing same-sex couples to be married in The Episcopal Church beginning on First Sunday of Advent 2015, when both resolutions take effect.
Bible Study: Easter 6 (B) – 2015
Acts 10:44-48 Our 1979 Book of Common Prayer includes all kinds of changes to the liturgy for baptism, but the most significant one doesn’t have to do with the language in our prayers. Have you noticed that our baptismal rites aren’t found right before Confirmation, as in older prayer books, but instead fall between Easter […]
Bible Study: Easter 4 (B) – 2015
Acts 4:5-12 “The stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone” (verse 11). As is often the case, the context of this passage is set in the portion of the text that is not included in the reading. Here, the situation is that Peter and John were preaching and rejoicing […]
Bible Study: Easter 3 (B) – 2015
Acts 3:12-19 At this point in the church year we read from the New Testament’s Book of Acts rather than the usual Old Testament source, yet this passage of Acts shows deep connections to the Old Testament. It reminds us that our salvation history includes the family history of Genesis and the prophecy of Isaiah. […]
The Blues Moan in the Gospel Shout, Good Friday – 2015
Take up your cross, the Savior said, if you would my disciple be. Well, today we see what that really means. Today, we kneel to venerate the wood of the cross on which hung the Savior of the world. And we recognize that we are completely incapable of following his commandment and carrying the wooden […]
Presiding Bishop’s keynote address
Episcopalians have a prayer that names “this fragile earth, our island home.”[1] We’ve been praying it for nearly 40 years, yet many are only beginning to awaken to our wanton abuse of this planet. We profess that God has planted us in a garden to care for it and for all its inhabitants, yet we […]
The Climate Change Crisis: Forum now available for viewing
[March 24, 2015] Now available here www.episcopalchurch.org is the Climate Change Crisis, presented by the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society on March 24. Addressing one of the most significant topics in today’s society, the 90-minute live webcast originated from Campbell Hall Episcopal School, North Hollywood, CA, in partnership with Bishop J. Jon Bruno and the […]
Bible Study: Lent 5 (B) – 2015
Jeremiah 31:31-34 Few passages in the Old Testament are as important – or as difficult to understand – as Jeremiah’s prophecy about the “new covenant.” The writer of Hebrews cites this passage not once but twice (Chapters 8-10), a dense passage describing his/her understanding of the relationship between the old covenant with Israel and the […]
Bible Study: Lent 3 (B) – 2015
Exodus 20:1-17 This week’s Old Testament reading is the first instance in the narrative of the exodus of Israelites from Egypt in which the Decalogue (Ten Commandments) appears. It appears again in Exodus 34, immediately following the making of the golden calf, when Moses carries the tablets down from the mountain. In this narrative, the […]
Our Global Family, Last Sunday in Epiphany – 2015
Today, the Last Sunday After the Epiphany, the Episcopal Church celebrates World Mission Sunday. Today is a day when we are called to celebrate that we are a missionary church. Today is a day when where are all called, through our baptismal vows, to seek and serve Christ in all people and respect the dignity […]
Episcopal missionaries nurture global partnerships, deepen Communion
As The Episcopal Church prepares to observe World Mission Sunday on Feb. 15, the following article looks at some of the treasures of its missionary program. The purpose of World Mission Sunday is to focus on the global impact of the Baptismal Covenant’s call to “seek and serve Christ in all persons” (Book of Common Prayer, p. […]