A message to The Episcopal Church from Executive Council: February 2025
The message below is a letter from the members of The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council following its Feb. 17-19 meeting.

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The message below is a letter from the members of The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council following its Feb. 17-19 meeting.
Following yesterday’s churchwide announcement about Episcopal church staff realignment, Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe provides further insight about the vision behind the changes underway.
Dear People of God in The Episcopal Church: On the day I was elected presiding bishop in June 2024, I told the General Convention: It’s time to reorient our churchwide resources—budgets and staff—to support dioceses and congregations on the ground where ministry happens. To build on what dioceses and diocesan partnerships already do better than the churchwide structure and use churchwide resources to strengthen those ministries.
Following is a lightly edited transcript of opening remarks by Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe to the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church, meeting Feb. 17-19 in Linthicum Heights, Maryland.
The Episcopal Church is among dozens of multifaith plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the U.S. government’s recent rescission of guidelines that limited immigration enforcement in sensitive areas such as churches, schools, and hospitals. The suit was filed this morning in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia by Georgetown Law’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection.
Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe preached the sermon during a Feb. 2 Eucharist at Washington National Cathedral celebrating the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. The service also included Bishop Rowe’s ceremonial seating, a liturgy in the Book of Occasional Services.
Washington National Cathedral will host the ceremonial seating of the Most Rev. Sean W. Rowe, the 28th presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church, during its Feb. 2 Eucharist service. The 11:15 a.m. ET service will be livestreamed on the cathedral’s channels.
Because our true citizenship is not here on earth but in heaven, we are called to transcend the earthly distinctions made among us by the leaders of this world. We must proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is promised to the persecuted and answer Christ’s call to welcome the stranger among us. This vision of God’s kingdom, this new reality, is the one to which we Christians are pledged in our baptism above any political preference or policy, and to which our church must bear witness through word and deed.

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