Bible Study: Proper 8 (A) – 2014
Genesis 22:1-14 This passage has troubled readers for centuries. The image of God asking for the sacrifice of a child is both disturbing and a view of God not universally held by Christians. The passage has provided a number of interesting and varied interpretations from the notion that it is not God testing Abraham, but […]
TREC provides meeting report
The Taskforce for Re-Imagining the Episcopal Church (TREC) has provided a report to The Episcopal Church following its recent meeting.
Presiding Bishop at Executive Council: Opening Remarks
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori presented the following opening remarks at the Episcopal Church Executive Council meeting currently gathered at the Conference Center at the Maritime Institute in Linthicum Heights, MD (Diocese of Maryland). Executive Council 5-7 February 2014 Maritime Center, Linthicum Heights, MD Opening remarks The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori Presiding […]
What Does “King” Mean to You?, Christ the King (C) – 2013
The King. Christ: the King. The feast of: Christ the King. This is what we mark and celebrate today, but what does it mean? Back around the time our current Prayer Book was approved, it wasn’t uncommon to hear clergy say, even lament, that confirmation was a sacrament needing a theology. Our understanding of baptism […]
Opening Worship – Rochester Diocesan Convention
From all I have seen of this diocese, your boundaries do indeed enclose a pleasant land, as the psalmist puts it. You are planted here, as Ezekiel says, with hearts of flesh, for living here in this land as God’s people. There is joy abundant in this place, for those who know the abiding presence […]
Budget process survey results issued
The Governance of The Episcopal Church: The following information is another in an ongoing series discussing the governance of The Episcopal Church. The Executive Council Budget Subcommittee has issued its report on the results of the survey on the diocesan asking formula that was sent to bishops and deputies in August, to help the committee […]
Freeing Our Usefulness, Proper 18 (C) – 2013
Imagine coming to church some Sunday morning and reading an entire book of the Bible. In fact, you just did. Well, almost. To be exact, you just read, or heard read to you, an entire book of the Bible – minus four verses. So, for the sake of completion, here are the missing verses from […]
This One Thing, Proper 11 (C) – 2013
Just when we think we have the formula all worked out, the path to success all laid out, the one easy answer for earning us an A-plus for discipleship, Jesus goes and throws a wrench into the works. Last week we heard the story of the Good Samaritan, where the point was: Go and do. […]
TREC provides report following recent meeting
A Word to the Churches
EPPN Alert: Lent – Changing our Culture of Violence
As we reach the climax of a Lenten season in which the Episcopal Public Policy Network has examined cycles of violence in our culture from a variety of perspectives, today we specifically consider the issue of gun violence that has grasped the attention of so many Americans. As Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said in […]
An In-Between Place, Easter 7 (C) – 2013
The Seventh Sunday of Easter always seems to be a sort of in-between place; the Feast of the Ascension was celebrated just a few days ago, and Pentecost is still another week off. Like the disciples, we seem to stand metaphorically staring into the heavens, awaiting the next chapter of our story to unfold. The […]
Worldwide Anglican Peace Conference
I have been asked to speak about the American military bases here in Okinawa, and what role our respective churches have to play in regard to those bases. So that we might all begin with a shared understanding of these realities, I will begin with a broad outline of the history behind the present situation […]
Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori presents keynote address at Worldwide Anglican Peace Conference
In her keynote presentation at the Second Worldwide Anglican Peace Conference in Okinawa, Japan, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori addressed The question of US military bases in Okinawa – The role of Anglican-Episcopal Church. “I want to challenge us all to consider similar situations around the world, and the roles that our respective […]
Opening Eucharist of the Meeting of the House of Bishops
Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy was a priest of the Church of England who volunteered to serve as an army chaplain in the First World War. He was a notable and skilled poet, not unlike his predecessors George Herbert and John Donne, well rooted in the glory of God’s created order as well as the labors of […]
Presiding Bishop, President of the House of Deputies open inaugural meeting of Structure Task Force
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and President of the House of Deputies the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings opened the inaugural meeting of the Episcopal Church Task Force for Church Structural Reform on February 14 with overviews of the church and their task. The Task Force is meeting through February 16 at the Maritime Institute in […]
Bible Study: Epiphany 3 (C) – 2013
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 Ezra the priest and Nehemiah the governor were the leaders of the Jewish community in the post-exilic period, after the return of the Jewish people to Jerusalem from exile in Babylonia. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are a narrative of the restoration of the Jewish people to their homeland after […]
Bible Study: Advent 3 (C) – 2012
Zephaniah 3:14-20 Zephaniah’s prophetic work came at a time of bankrupt religious and political leadership in Israel’s history: idolatry is rampant, national identity is waning, social and economic violence are commonplace, and priests are profaning the sacred. God is not in any way pleased with the trajectory Israel has chosen for itself. I was surprised […]
Bible Study: Proper 21 (B) – 2012
Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29 Today’s reading from the book of Numbers interweaves three themes – the peoples’ frustration with their situation of wandering in the desert with little to eat, Moses’ frustration with the heavy responsibilities he has been given, and the independence of the prophetic office from priestly control. The vacillation of both the […]
The Episcopal Church's opportunity: A Church for the 21st Century
Who are we, and who is here? I would invite you to reflect for a moment and remember what God has been saying to you for a very long time: you are my beloved, and in you I am well pleased. That is our primary identity – beloved siblings, created in the image of God, […]