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[Episcopal Church in Alabama] The Episcopal Church in Alabama, in partnership with The Scottsboro Boys Museum, held an inaugural racial healing pilgrimage April 5 in Scottsboro, Alabama, to honor and remember the infamous Scottsboro Boys trial. Observed just one day shy of the 94th anniversary of the April 6, 1931, trial, the pilgrimage honored the nine African American teenagers known as the Scottsboro Boys, who were falsely accused of raping two white women aboard a train. Over 55 Episcopalians from across the state gathered at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church in Scottsboro, where the Rev. Polly H. Robb – the rector and visionary behind this inaugural pilgrimage – led participants through a full itinerary. The day began with Morning Prayer, followed by a procession to three historically significant sites, each tied to the Scottsboro Boys case. At each stop, pilgrims engaged in scripture readings – including selections from the Psalms – and offered prayers and collects from the Book of Common Prayer, creating a sacred rhythm of reflection, healing, and remembrance. The pilgrimage’s first stop was the old jail’s original site, where the boys spent the night of March 25, 1931. “This ground has a sacred connection to the story. Although these African Americans spent only a night on March 25, 1931, they are forever known as the Scottsboro Boys,” said Tom Reidy, executive director of the Scottsboro Boys Museum. He added, “This is a site of an incident that I think we need to keep talking about. This is because if we forget our past, if we forget about these difficult times, we forget our heroes.” Addressing pilgrims at the Scottsboro Boys Memorial Mural, artist Don Howard, who the Scottsboro City Council commissioned for the mural, offered his reflections. “I thought that there was something peculiar, because it galvanized the community of Black people when it happened and the world as the biggest story [on racial injustice] at that time,” Howard said. “For a city to embrace the past so they can look forward to the future – especially for a relatively small town in the state of Alabama – I felt it was tremendous, and for them to actively seek out an artist who was a person of color was even a bigger thing.” The third stop of the pilgrimage was the Jackson County Courthouse, where Presiding Circuit Judge John H. Graham shared a message of hope and accountability. “I don’t have much philosophy to share with you or any cure to the problems of the world we face and seem to have always faced other, than to say those of us in the court system, I fully believe, try every day to do better than we did yesterday, to do better tomorrow than we did today – to obey, to follow, to observe the rule of law, and the belief and decree that we have as [U.S.] Americans that we will pursue life, liberty, and happiness,” he said. Reflecting on those who intervened to prevent the boys’ lynching, he said, “I think there is a lesson to be learned, and I’ll just tell you for myself – I don’t speak on behalf of anyone – I speak for myself: It’s not going to happen again on my watch if I can possibly stop it.” The day concluded with a brief homily at the Scottsboro Boys Museum, housed in the historic Joyce Chapel, from Alabama Bishop Assisting Brian Prior. Drawing a powerful theological connection, Prior paralleled the day’s journey with the Good Friday pilgrimage many Episcopalians observe during Holy Week. “One of the pilgrimages I look forward to is Good Friday – it is a sacred time where people walk the walk of Jesus,” he said. “This suggests to you a walk like the one we just had, a walk that made it clear about the injustices that happened to Jesus. The walk that we just experienced makes it clear the injustice that happened to the Scottsboro Boys.” He encouraged pilgrims to continue sharing the story. “The injustice at the time of Jesus that we only know about because there are those – and ancestors and a great cloud of witnesses – who had told the story over and over again, who would not let the story go away. Friends, your witness today continues to do that for the Scottsboro Boys. I am grateful for those who share this day, grateful for those who have told the stories so we can continue to live in that place and those stories will not go away, and the stories will continue to grow.” Prior also called the group to remember that pilgrimage is not an end but a beginning. “Even if you walk alone,” he said, “no pilgrimage is ever truly solitary. We do this work in the community. We do it to respect the dignity of every human being. We do it to move closer to where God is calling us – to a world where love, grace, and justice are not aspirations, but reality.” Many participants expressed excitement about how moving and educational the experience had been. For Kana Goldsmith, executive director of Sawyerville – a ministry deeply rooted in racial reconciliation – the day held personal significance. “My work at Sawyerville deals with working with children in the same age group as the Scottsboro Boys, and that makes this very emotional for me,” she said. “Today’s learnings drive me even more to ensure that everyone who comes through Sawyerville knows their rights as U.S. citizens and has the opportunity to succeed. I also believe it’s right for white Southerners to uplift and strengthen every Black man and woman in their community.” This pilgrimage forms part of the Diocese of Alabama’s growing commitment to racial healing and pilgrimage ministry, led by Breanna Carter. It joins a constellation of sacred spaces across the state that hold a deep connection to the Civil Rights movement. Chief among them is the annual Jonathan Daniels and the […]

United Methodists at the Peace Conference joined in one of the nationwide protests against the Trump administration’s impact on government services and human rights.

<article class="media media--image display--large"> <div class="image-container"> <div class="field field-media-image"> <img loading="eager" width="430" height="323" alt="Participants at Gather Houston" class="lazyload" data-src="/sites/default/files/styles/default_mobile/public/2025-04/crc-news_2025-4-9_sharing-stories-across-language-lines.jpg?itok=FE3VMTLh" /> </div> <div class="field field-image-caption">Participants at Gather Houston</div> </div> <div class="field field-image-credit">Victoria Veenstra</div> </article> <br /> At Gather Houston, participants shared stories in English, Spanish, and Korean about how God is at work in their churches.

<article class="media media--image display--large"> <div class="image-container"> <div class="field field-media-image"> <img loading="eager" width="430" height="323" alt="Janis Persenaire and Deibi Lapian on their trip" class="lazyload" data-src="/sites/default/files/styles/default_mobile/public/2025-04/crc-news_2025-4-9_girl-from-tea-plantation.jpg?itok=oxPZ8e_T" /> </div> <div class="field field-image-caption">Janis Persenaire and Deibi Lapian on their trip</div> </div> </article> <br /> Global Coffee Break leaders share stories of faith from their work in South Asia.

<article class="media media--image display--large"> <div class="image-container"> <div class="field field-media-image"> <img loading="eager" width="430" height="323" alt="Chemistry professor Doug Vander Griend researches alongside Aerin Baker. Baker&#039;s research experience has already led to coauthoring multiple papers for journals and presenting at a national conference." class="lazyload" data-src="/sites/default/files/styles/default_mobile/public/2025-04/crc-news_2025-4-9_goldwater-award.jpg?itok=PqFSnfh7" /> </div> <div class="field field-image-caption">Chemistry professor Doug Vander Griend researches alongside Aerin Baker. Baker's research experience has already led to coauthoring multiple papers for journals and presenting at a national conference.</div> </div> <div class="field field-image-credit">calvin.edu</div> </article> <br /> Three Calvin University students have received Goldwater scholarships for their studies in the natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering.

A United Methodist Peace Conference drew some 200 clergy and laity to discuss breaking down national divisions. Some joined a Hands Off! rally that drew a cross-section of people.

[Episcopal News Service] The Anglican Communion may be poised for a reset, at least concerning the archbishop of Canterbury’s leadership role. Two proposals, which will be taken up next year by the Anglican Consultative Council, or ACC, would adjust how the worldwide communion’s 42 autonomous, interdependent provinces relate to each other.  The proposals, if adopted, would de-emphasize the Church of England and the archbishop of Canterbury as a “focus of unity” while elevating more geographically diverse leaders for the global network of Anglican and Episcopal churches. These proposals were developed partly in response to longstanding theological divisions between some of the provinces, and it remains to be seen whether the proposed changes could mend what some conservative bishops have described as their “impaired” communion with provinces like The Episcopal Church that are more progressive on issues of LGBTQ+ inclusion. The underlying goal is to maintain Anglican unity while allowing member provinces to stay true to their theological beliefs when they differ, said Bishop Graham Tomlin, who chairs the Anglican body that drafted the proposals. “It is important to still remain committed to one another,” Tomlin, a Church of England bishop, told Episcopal News Service in a Zoom interview. He said his commission’s proposals “take serious the depths of our divisions but also take serious the call to unity that we find within the Gospel.” Tomlin’s group, the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order, or IASCUFO, issued a 44-page report in December 2024 detailing its Nairobi-Cairo Proposals, named for the cities where they were drafted. The first proposal offers an updated statement of what binds the 42 provinces to each other: “shared inheritance, mutual service, common counsel in conference, and historic connection with the See of Canterbury.” That final principle’s wording differs slightly from the Anglican Communion’s existing definition, which since 1930 has required member churches to be “in communion with the See of Canterbury,” commonly understood as the Church of England. The second proposal seeks to broaden and diversify the leadership of three Anglican Communion bodies known as the “Instruments of Communion” – the ACC, the Primates’ Meeting and the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops. The archbishop of Canterbury is considered a fourth Instrument of Communion. Under these changes, the archbishop of Canterbury would no longer serve as the ACC president; the presidency instead would rotate among leaders from the Anglican Communion’s five regions. The archbishop of Canterbury also traditionally has convened the Primates’ Meeting and Lambeth Conference; those bodies would be newly convened by the Primates’ Standing Committee. Such changes “would add a welcome and overdue diversification to the face of the Instruments of Communion,” the IASCUFO report said. “The leadership of the Communion should look like the Communion.” The report added that Anglican leadership should reflect “the identity and ideals of the Anglican Communion in a post-colonial era.” The Rev. Ranjit Mathews, one of three Episcopal Church representatives to the ACC, told ENS that he sees the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals as a positive step forward in inter-Anglican relations, particularly the acknowledgement that the face of the Anglican Communion is becoming more global than it was a century ago. An increasing number of Anglicans now live in what is known as the Global South – Africa, Asia, South America. “I think the proposals are catching up to the reality of what the communion looks like,” said Mathews, who serves as canon to the ordinary of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut. At the same time, many of those Global South provinces are pushing for structural changes to the Anglican Communion because their conservative leaders do not agree with the theology, doctrine and practices of more progressive provinces on human sexuality and other issues. Although most Global South provinces have pressed their objections in person at the ACC, Primates’ Meeting and Lambeth Conference, a few provinces’ bishops have refused for years to participate in any such gatherings attended by leaders of The Episcopal Church and other provinces that have consecrated gay and lesbian bishops and blessed or married same-sex couples. In February 2023, theologically conservative Anglicans amplified their calls for structural changes after the Church of England’s General Synod endorsed a plan to offer same-sex blessings in England’s churches. Days later, the ACC convened its latest meeting in Accra, Ghana. Then-Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, in his opening remarks, responded to the growing tensions by called for greater egalitarianism in how the Anglican Communion’s 42 provinces relate to each other. The Instruments of Communion “have never had either doctrinal or ethical authority, but they have moral force,” Welby said, and he asserted that they continue to offer “the way forward in mutual help where country comes after obedience to God.” Later in the meeting, ACC members from 38 provinces, including The Episcopal Church, adopted a resolution on “good differentiation” that endorsed efforts “to explore theological questions regarding structure and decision-making to help address our differences in the Anglican Communion.” After the ACC concluded its meeting, conservative archbishops issued a letter rejecting the continuation of the archbishop of Canterbury’s historic leadership role in the worldwide communion as the “first among equals.” In opposing the Church of England’s decision on same-sex blessings, they said they would “expeditiously meet, consult and work with other orthodox primates in the Anglican Church across the nations to re-set the Communion on its biblical foundation.” Welby has since resigned over his handling of an unrelated scandal. The challenge of maintaining Anglican Communion unity is likely to remain a top priority when his successor is chosen, a process that is now underway. In the meantime, IASCUFO is preparing its Nairobi-Cairo Proposals for presentation to the ACC at its next meeting, to be hosted by the Church of Ireland in June and July 2026. The commission did not specifically intend its proposals to address the concerns of the Global South bishops, Tomlin said, though the changes may allow all provinces to find ways to stay connected despite their differences. “What we […]

Convo is a tradition that youth and young adults in the Moravian Church have enjoyed since 1957. Held every two years, Convo traditionally rotates between a gathering here in North America for high schoolers and a gathering elsewhere in the Moravian Unity for young adults. Beginning with the 2025 Convo for high schoolers, the Board of World Mission is honored […]

Join us for a church leaders gathering in Dumfries with members of the Evangelical Alliance Scotland team.

Join us for a church leaders gathering in Ayr with members of the Evangelical Alliance Scotland team