Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori calls for prayers for President, US Congress, elected officials
Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has joined other religious leaders from the National Council of Churches in calling for a commitment of daily prayers for the President, Vice-President, United States Congress and elected officials beginning January 3 until January 21. January 3 is the first day of the new Congress; January 21 is […]
Where Prayer Has Been Valid…, Proper 28 (B) – 2009
In T. S. Eliot’s poem, “The Four Quartets,” he talks about going to a church at Little Gidding, the site of a small Anglican religious community founded in the seventeenth century. Eliot writes, “You are not here to verify, instruct yourself, or inform curiosity or carry report. You are here to kneel where prayer has […]
Book Annexed, The
A shortened form of the title of The Book Annexed to the Report of the Joint Committee on the Book of Common Prayer Appointed by the General Convention of MDCCCLXXX or of The Book Annexed . . . As Modified by the Action of the General Convention of MDCCCLXXXIII. These books were published in 1883 […]
Prayer Book Commentary
A comprehensive study of the liturgical and theological background of a Prayer Book. During the Puritan Commonwealth in England, when the BCP was outlawed, two systematic commentaries were published: Anthony Sparrow's A Rationale or Practical Exposition upon the Book of Common Prayer (1655) and Hamon L'Estrange's The Alliance of Divine Offices (1659). Thomas Comber published […]
Proposed Book
The Book of Common Prayer, . . . As Revised and Proposed to the Use of the Protestant Episcopal Church (1786) incorporated recommendations from Connecticut and from the other New England states and revisions of a convention of states south of New England. The book was edited by William White of Philadelphia, William Smith of […]
House of Bishops issues Pastoral Letter along with a Theological Resource: The Nation and the Common Good: Reflections on Immigration Reform
The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church, meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, has issued the following Pastoral Letter and Theological Reflection: “The Nation and the Common Good: Reflections on Immigration Reform.”
Episcopal Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori at Haiti Prayer Service: Our Hearts Are Broken
“Our hearts are broken,” The Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said in a homily at a prayer service for Haiti on January 17. The Presiding Bishop joined Bishop of Washington John Bryson Chane, Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III, The Honorable Susan E. Rice, US Ambassador to the United Nations, His Excellency Raymond […]
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Epiphany 3 (C) – 2004
Contrary to what our contemporary culture may tell us, the Christmas season does not begin sometime after Halloween and conclude with returning unwanted presents on December 26. Rather, the Christmas season has its own cycle, beginning with Advent, moving through Christmas, and continuing with Epiphany. This is similar to the pattern with Easter: the Lenten […]
Bulletin Insert: All Saints’ Day (B) – All Saints’ Day – November 7, 2021
All Saints’ Day, celebrated November 1 or the nearest Sunday afterward, is characterized by the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) as a Principal Feast, “taking precedence over any other day or observance” (BCP, 15). The day is set aside to remember and commend the saints of God, especially those who are not recognized at other points in the church year.
The Episcopal Church offers a new Global Mission Digital Toolkit
The Global Mission Digital Toolkit is now available. Launched on World Mission Sunday, which was observed on the last Sunday after Epiphany, February 14, this resource is a collaboration between The Episcopal Church Office of Global Partnerships (OGP), the Global Episcopal Mission Network (GEMN), and the Standing Commission on World Mission (SCWM). This toolkit explores The Episcopal Church teaching that the mission of the church is “to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ” (Book of Common Prayer, p 855) in a global context and offers resources to help Episcopalians live into this teaching. The project collaboration is supported by a generous grant from the Constable Fund.
Grant Committee Updates
By Tammy Smecker-Hane, Province VIII Representative to the UTO Grant Committee UTO 2026 Grants Review Process Has Begun For those of us on the UTO Board, this time of year brings the excitement of reviewing the completed applications for UTO Grants. The focus of the 2026 grants is fostering justice and bridging divides. This year, […]
This Is the Night, Easter Vigil (A) – April 4, 2026
[RCL] Psalm 114; Romans 6:3-11; Matthew 28:1-10 As Christians all throughout the world gather on this night, there is a shift in time itself. When we gather for this holy night, we pray: This is the night, when you brought our fathers, the children of Israel, out of bondage in Egypt, and led them through […]
Bible Study: Easter 3 (A) – April 19, 2026
RCL: Acts 2:14a, 36-41; Psalm 116:1-3,10-17; 1 Peter 1:17-23; Luke 24:13-35 Opening Prayer | Ever living God, whose will it is that all should come to you through your Son Jesus Christ: Inspire our witness to him, that all may know the power of his forgiveness and the hope of his resurrection; who lives and […]
Lost in Translation, Palm Sunday (A) – March 29, 2026
RCL: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 27: 11-54 In the 1540s the great Finnish scholar Mikael Agricola began the project of his life: translating the New Testament into Finnish for the first time in history. It was a project of massive importance to the Finnish church, but Agricola faced a huge problem: How […]
Lent 2026: Gratitude and Reciprocity
By Molly Minnerath, Young Adult Representative on the UTO BoardUpdates from the UTO Formation and Development Committee Lent is upon us! As a child, Lent was always my favorite season in the church. I think this was at least in part because I liked the color change in the sanctuary, the palpable mood change at […]
2027 Focus: We are ‘the Gifts of God, for the People of God’
Updates from the UTO Grant Committee The UTO Grants Committee is pleased to announce the release of the 2027 grant focus. We are using the three-legged stool of Anglicanism to inspire the focus, and this year, we chose: Therefore, the UTO Board seeks innovative and imaginative applications in 2027 that are rooted in their communities […]
Ash Wednesday letter from Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe
Dear people of God in The Episcopal Church: When God told Moses to lead the ancient Israelites out of slavery in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh stood in his way. Pharaoh wanted power and control over God’s people, and Exodus tells us that the more serious the situation got, the more hardened his heart became. Despite locusts and frogs and all manner of chaos in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh remained trapped by his view of the world, which had himself and his power at the center. He could not see that God’s imagination was far bigger and more expansive than his. He could not imagine liberation for God’s people—or for himself.