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Rev Israel Olofinjana highlights why two key dates this year, in church history are both enshrined in the mission of unity

Phil Knox explores some of the latest ‘revival’ research and asks how we need to respond as the UK church

[Episcopal News Service] Washington Bishop Mariann Budde announced April 30 that former Maryland Bishop Eugene Sutton will join the Diocese of Washington as a part-time assistant bishop. Sutton retired from leading the Baltimore-based Diocese of Maryland in April 2024 after nearly 16 years. The Diocese of Washington, based in the nation’s capital city, includes congregations in Washington, D.C., and parts of Maryland. The following is the letter Budde sent to her diocese announcing Sutton’s new role. I am pleased to announce that the Right Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton has accepted the call to serve as part-time assistant bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, beginning in September 2025. Bishop Sutton is no stranger to the Diocese of Washington. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Bishop Sutton served several EDOW congregations as priest and as canon pastor of Washington National Cathedral prior to his election as bishop of the Diocese of Maryland, where he served from 2008-2024. He currently serves as senior pastor of the Chautauqua Institution, a national religious, educational and arts organization based in upstate New York. Bishop Sutton is married to Sonya Subbayya Sutton, a past president of the Association of Anglican Musicians who has served several Episcopal churches as organist/choirmaster over a 40-year career. They live in Washington, D.C., for most of the year, and in the summer months in Chautauqua, New York. Always a good friend to the Diocese of Washington, Bishop Sutton will surely be a blessing among us as he steps into the role of assistant bishop. He will make Sunday parish visits (an average of two per month) and take part in other services and events where a bishop’s presence is desired or required. Most importantly, he will serve as a pastor to clergy and congregations, with a particular focus on our historically Black and predominantly Black congregations. Bishop Sutton is a leader with many spiritual gifts. He has a passion for leading retreats and pilgrimages, and for helping others go deeper in their faith through contemplative prayer practices. Bishop Sutton also has a strong commitment to racial reconciliation and justice, and he is a nationally recognized leader on reparations as a means toward reconciliation. “I am honored and excited to be returning to the Diocese of Washington in this new capacity,” said Bishop Sutton. “Over the years I’ve been fortunate to get to know many of the parishes and people here. Now as its assistant bishop, I look forward to forming new bonds of mutuality and affection as together we encounter the living Christ in our midst and continue God’s mission of reconciliation both within the diocese and in the world beyond.” Given his summer responsibilities, we won’t see much of Bishop Sutton until September. In the next few weeks, however, he will get to know our diocesan staff and we will begin working out his schedule for the fall and beyond. If there is an event for which you would like to invite Bishop Sutton when he begins his ministry among us please contact Allen Fitzpatrick, executive assistant to the canons. In the meantime, please join me in giving thanks for the opportunity to welcome him back to the Diocese of Washington.

[Episcopal News Service] Long Island, New York, is renowned for its beaches, wineries, affluent seaside towns, historic neighborhoods and art scene. It’s also home to the state’s highest concentration of farms, which provide livelihoods for many working-class people.   Climate change puts all of it at risk, with its immediate, ongoing threat of coastal erosion due to rising sea levels and more frequent and intense storms. “The industries here – the working-class people of our diocese – what is happening with the environment is so essential to both their livelihoods, and the future of their actual existence is paramount,” Long Island Bishop Lawrence C. Provenzano, a Brooklyn, New York, native, told Episcopal News Service in a phone interview. For these reasons, creation care is crucial for the Diocese of Long Island, which encompasses the island and Brooklyn and Queens, New York City’s two largest boroughs by population. On May 3, the Diocese of Long Island’s Creation Care Community will host a “Fight for the Earth” Day Retreat and Spring Festival at the George Mercer, Jr., Memorial School of Theology in Garden City. “This retreat day will connect our understanding of our relationship with God in terms of … our responsibility to take very practical steps, very much the way anyone would take practical steps in relation to other areas of their spiritual lives,” said Provenzano, who noted that more than 8 million people live on Long Island. The diocese planned the event partly in response to President Donald Trump rolling back many environmental and climate policies in his first 100 days in office. However, Provenzano said that caring for the environment, despite the politics, “isn’t really a political issue.” Provenzano will kickstart the day with morning prayer. He plans to preach about the need to take concrete actions to protect the Earth, beyond making verbal pledges. The morning schedule will include information sessions on climate change and creation care, including how to advocate and campaign for legislation benefiting the environment; how to reduce greenhouse emissions and carbon footprints at home and in parishes using solar and other clean energy; and greening outdoor spaces, including pollinator gardens. The afternoon portion will be a festival. Planned activities include a rogation procession with clergy, a health fair, gardening and planning demonstrations, a craft fair, a flower-arranging demonstration and a presentation on building, repairing and renovating environmentally sustainable buildings. Participants will visit the Cathedral of the Incarnation’s honeybees and learn about beekeeping. Additional activities, including a special environmental advocacy session, will be available for youth and young adult participants. Chelsy DeHart, director of the Diocese of Long Island’s youth and young adult ministries, told ENS that the young participants will leave Fight for the Earth Day with “tangible tools” to advocate for environmental policies in their communities. “Kids are a lot smarter than we think they are. …Especially now, they’re very aware of the climate crisis and want to learn more,” DeHart said. “We will explain, for example, what the definition of a greenhouse gas is and provide a lot more information to help them understand how it fits into the wider climate context.” The Rev. Matthew Moore, the Diocese of Long Island’s missioner for environmental justice and co-chair of the Creation Care Community leadership team, told ENS that the Christian mandate to care for creation is rooted in Genesis, but “having dominion” over all living beings on Earth has been “unfortunately misinterpreted.” “As the science of ecology progresses and as we become more aware of how interconnected all life on Earth is, we must recognize that our neighbors include not just other human beings, but also all the creatures with whom we share the Earth,” Moore said. Long Island has more farms than any other region in New York state, and the number of farms and farmland is growing – 34,468 acres of farmland as of November 2024. In a thriving wine region, farmers grow grapes and other fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains, and raise livestock. Long Island also has many aquaculture farms. Because of climate change, farmers on the island are experiencing fires, droughts, spotted lanternfly infestations and flooding. In 2012, Superstorm Sandy flooded more than 800 acres of farmland on Long Island with salt water when it made landfall as a weakened post-tropical cyclone, down from a Category 3 hurricane. The Diocese of Long Island has in recent years taken steps to reduce its carbon footprint. It banned the use of non-reusable products from all its events, including Styrofoam cups, paper dishes and plastic flatware. At its 2024 diocesan convention, the diocese pledged to purchase reusable water bottles for its 128 parishes. “Everyone thought it was just a stunt, but, actually, it’s not,” Provenzano said. “When you go fishing on the Long Island Sound and you’re encountering fish that are being entangled in the plastic, it’s a constant reminder for us to be very deliberate in our actions.” The diocese has previously held similar “green team” retreats in the fall, though the upcoming spring event will be the first to center around Earth Day, which is April 22. Provenzano, Moore and DeHart all said they’re excited to host future events like Fight for the Earth Day to encourage more climate action within their diocese. “It is about caring for the Earth in a way that brings us back to some basic understanding of being stewards of God’s creation, and the essential nature of our faithful stewardship,” Provenzano said. -Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

On 26 April, representatives from the United Church of Zambia and the Council of Churches in Zambia gathered with the community at Trinity United Church of Zambia to celebrate the life of Rev. Violet Sampa-Bredt, 10 years after her passing.