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After two days of voting, members of the Dallas congregation overwhelmingly approved a resolution severing ties with The United Methodist Church. More than 90% voted in favor of the move, according to the church.

A gathering in Berlin, under the theme “What Connects Us," on 14 October drew representatives from politics, churches, and civil society to discuss the values that should guide international interests.

  [Episcopal News Service] Four Episcopal dioceses – Great Lakes, Kansas, New Hampshire and Tennessee – held bishop elections on Oct. 24 during their diocesan conventions. These four dioceses are among the 19 currently undergoing leadership transitions. The Grand Rapids-based Diocese of the Great Lakes, which formed in 2024 following the juncture of the dioceses of Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan, elected the Rev. Zachary “Zack” Nyein as its first bishop diocesan on the second ballot. Nyein, who serves as senior associate rector and pastor of Imagine Worship at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in New York, New York, is scheduled to be ordained and consecrated on May 8, 2027. “It is a rare and unique privilege to serve as the first bishop of a new diocese, and I am extraordinarily honored to accept the call,” Nyein said in the diocese’s election announcement. “The Holy Spirit is at work in the Great Lakes, and I look forward to our years of ministry together.” As bishop of the Diocese of the Great Lakes, Nyein will lead 98 congregations, including four seasonal chapels, across 58 counties in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. Bishop Anne Hodges-Copple has been serving the diocese as an assisting bishop since 2025. The Rev. Whitney Rice, the Diocese of Missouri’s canon to the ordinary, was elected the 11th bishop of the Diocese of Kansas on the first ballot. Her ordination and consecration are scheduled for April 17, 2027, at Grace Episcopal Cathedral in Topeka. The diocese’s former bishop, the Rt. Rev. Cathleen Bascom, resigned on Jan. 31 to serve as a consultant to The Episcopal Church to help create eco-region networks in the United States and Province IX. On the second ballot, the Concord-based Diocese of New Hampshire elected the Rev. Ed Cardoza to be its 11th bishop, succeeding Bishop Robert Hirschfeld. Cardoza’s ordination and consecration are scheduled for March 6, 2027, at Rollins Chapel in Hanover.  Cardoza, who currently serves as priest-in-charge of Grace Episcopal Church in Manchester, New Hampshire, will lead some 10,000 Episcopalians in 46 congregations and eight seasonal chapels statewide.  “To be called to this ministry is a sacred privilege that I accept with a humbled heart, deeply aware of both the immense responsibility and the extraordinary work that lies ahead,” he said in the diocese’s bishop election announcement. “I look forward to ministering across our diocese, united in one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” The Rev. Colin Moore Ambrose, vice rector of St. George’s Episcopal Church in Nashville, Tennessee, was elected the 12th bishop of the Diocese of Tennessee on the third ballot. Upon his ordination and consecration, which are scheduled for April 10, he will succeed the current Tennessee Bishop John C. Bauerschmidt, who has led the diocese since 2007. “I look forward to sharing this life with all of you, being with you in your congregations, worshiping with you, praying with you, serving with you and discerning together what God is making possible among us,” Ambrose said in the diocese’s bishop election announcement. Last month, the Diocese of Florida elected the Rev. J. Randolph Alexander Jr. as its ninth bishop, nearly three years after its previous bishop, the Rt. Rev. John Howard, retired. In August, the dioceses of Northwestern Pennsylvania and Lexington also held bishop elections. -Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at [email protected].

[Anglican Communion News Service] Members of the Compass Rose Society met Oct. 21-22 at One Whitehall Place in London for the annual general meeting. The society has supported the Anglican Communion Office since 1994. Pennsylvania Bishop Daniel Gutiérrez, president of the Compass Rose Society, hosted the event. During the meeting, attendees spent time praying together and reviewing reports from the society’s board and chapter. They also listened to speakers from throughout the Anglican Communion provide updates on their work in person and virtually. The speakers included several Episcopal leaders, including the Rev. Chuck Robertson, senior adviser to Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe; the Rt. Rev. Mark Edington, bishop of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe; Atlanta Bishop Robert Wright; and the Rev. David Madison, executive director of the National Association of Episcopal Schools. Read the full article here.

A special webinar during the World Council of Churches Commission on Faith and Order meeting on 30 October will offer a glimpse into “Visible Unity in a Changing North: Ecclesiology, Leadership, and the Future of the Churches.”

[Diocese of Tennessee] The Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee elected the Rev. Colin Moore Ambrose as its 12th bishop on Oct. 24 at Christ Church Cathedral, Nashville. Ambrose was elected on the third ballot, receiving the required two-thirds in both clergy and lay orders on the same ballot. With 67 clergy votes and 105 lay votes cast, he received 48 clergy votes and 73 lay votes. Ambrose greeted the convention via an audio message minutes after his election was announced, saying, “I am overwhelmed, incredibly overwhelmed and humbled by this call, and I accept it with great joy.” When ordained and consecrated bishop on April 10, 2027, Ambrose will succeed the Rt. Rev. John C. Bauerschmidt, who is retiring after leading the diocese since 2006. “Bishop Bauerschmidt, thank you for your faithful leadership and for all you’ve given to this diocese. It will be an honor to follow you and to build on all that you have begun,” Ambrose said. A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Ambrose received his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Following college, he worked with Lehman Brothers in New York as a financial analyst and then spent five years as managing partner of a construction and remodeling company he co-founded in Chapel Hill. After discerning a call to ministry, he earned his Master of Divinity degree, cum laude, from Nashotah House Theological Seminary in 2009. He began his ministry in the Diocese of Tennessee at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where he served as priest associate and then interim priest before being called to St. George’s, Nashville, in 2019, where he currently serves as vice-rector and chief of staff. Ambrose is married to Trisha, and the Ambroses have three children. Reflecting on the future, Ambrose said, “This diocese is home. … I look forward to sharing this life with all of you, being with you in your congregations, worshiping with you, praying with you, serving with you and discerning together what God is making possible among us.” The other nominees were the Rev. Brian Cannaday, canon to the ordinary of the Diocese of Dallas, and the Rev. D. Andy Olivo, rector of St. Elizabeth’s Church, Ridgewood, New Jersey. The Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee encompasses 40 of the 41 counties in Middle Tennessee, serving 43 congregations and other mission outposts, comprising approximately 15,000 Episcopalians.

A newly launched Report on the Sixth World Conference of Faith and Order reflects the range and depth of the event, held 24-28 October, 2025 at the Logos Papal Center at St Bishoy Monastery in Wadi El Natrun, Egypt.

The IBOC has created a lectionary calendar to make worship planning easy. This calendar includes Sundays and special days for Lectionary Cycle B, including special Sundays assigned through the PEC Synods. Click this link to access the printable calendar: Lectionary Calendar Year B.

United Methodist Committee on Relief distributes monthly food kits to 300 vulnerable families and a church orphanage in Goma.

World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee moderator Bishop Prof. Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm offered opening reflections at a Sant’ Egidio International Meeting for Peace in Assisi, underway 25-27 October.