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A WACC-supported project in Mexico has placed media’s social responsibility for gender-sensitive reporting – particularly of violence against women – onto the public agenda.

[Episcopal News Service] The Diocese of Florida on Sept. 11 elected the Rev. J. Randolph Alexander Jr. as its next bishop, marking a potential turning point in the diocese’s prolonged and tension-filled leadership transition after nearly 20 years under its previous bishop, Samuel “John” Howard. Clergy and lay leaders in the Jacksonville-based diocese elected Alexander on the third ballot at their diocesan convention, taking place Sept. 11-12 at the Camp Weed & Cerveny Conference Center in Live Oak. Alexander, rector of Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill in Alexandria, Virginia, was one of three candidates on the ballot, all of them from outside the diocese. “I am humbled, beyond words, by this decision from the people of God in the Diocese of Florida,” Alexander said in a statement released by the diocese after his election. “The harvest field is ripe unto the harvest, the potential is immense, and God’s love for us is beyond our limited imagination.” Alexander was elected with 86 out of 129 votes in the clergy order and 78 out of 142 votes in the lay order, with 65 and 72 votes needed in the respective orders. The other candidates were the Rev. Dorian Del Priore, rector of Holy Cross Church in Simpsonville, South Carolina; and the Very Rev. Thomas Clayton Purdy, rector of Christ Church in St. Simons Island, Georgia. “It’s a blessing to see our diocese come together to select Fr. Alexander as our future leader,” the Rev. Justin Yawn, outgoing standing committee president, and the Rev. Bob Goolsby, incoming standing committee president, said in a joint statement. “We give thanks to God for carrying us to this day and all who led and assisted this process.” Alexander’s election still will need to receive majority consent from the bishops and standing committees of The Episcopal Church’s more than 100 dioceses. That step typically is a formality on the path to a bishop’s consecration, but Florida’s last bishop election, in November 2022, failed to earn the required churchwide consents over concerns raised about the process and allegations of anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination under Howard. Because of those obstacles, the diocese has been without a diocesan bishop since Howard’s retirement in October 2023. The standing committee, after taking over as the diocese’s ecclesiastical authority, presided over a multiyear healing process that sought to mend relations between Howard’s supporters and those critical of the way he led the diocese for nearly two decades. Some of those critics filed complaints against Howard that became the basis of disciplinary cases under the church’s Title IV canons, alleging discrimination and financial impropriety. In September 2025, Howard reached an accord with Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe to resolve those cases without disciplinary action while also asking to be released from ordained ministry, meaning Howard is no longer a bishop in The Episcopal Church. In the interim, the diocese has been assisted by Central Florida Bishop Justin Holcomb, and Southwest Florida Bishop Douglas Scharf, as well as retired New Jersey Bishop Chip Stokes and retired Georgia Bishop Scott Benhase. During the diocesan healing process, members were also guided by the Rt. Rev. Mary Gray-Reeves, the former Diocese of El Camino Real bishop who is trained in conflict mediation. Gray-Reeves helped facilitate a series of conversations across differences that diocesan leaders said were necessary before they could launch a new bishop search. In the past several years since Howard’s exit, the atmosphere in the diocese has greatly improved, Yawn, the outgoing standing committee president, told Episcopal News Service in an interview before the election. “There’s actually joy in the room when we get together now,” he said. Pending the necessary churchwide consents, Alexander will be consecrated as Florida’s ninth bishop on Feb. 6, 2027. Yawn, rector of St. Francis in-the-Field Episcopal Church on Ponte Vedra Beach, said he and other members of the diocese are excited now about starting a new chapter, with more clearly defined roles for both the bishop and clergy and lay leadership. “This diocese knows that it is not fair to the new bishop, nor is it fair to any bishop, that we expect them to do everything,” Yawn said. “We have our roles and functions. … I’m very excited about how far we’ve come on that.” The process this year of nominating and meeting the three candidates and now voting for Florida’s next bishop has been particularly invigorating for the laity, Yawn added. “They see their vote as a mark of what God’s already doing here.” – David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at [email protected].

Speaking at the Monastery of Bose in Italy, His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East called for a new approach to the Christian presence in the Middle East—one that moves beyond narratives of decline, survival, and minority protection, and recognises Christians as full citizens and active partners in building peaceful and inclusive societies.

On 8-9 September, senior Christian and Muslim leaders, policymakers, and peacebuilding practitioners from across the Arab region gathered in Rome for the 2026 Steering Committee Meeting of the Interreligious Platform for Dialogue and Cooperation in the Arab World, supported by KAICIID and co-hosted with COREIS, the Italian Islamic Religious Community. 

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay met with Prime Minister Han Seongsook of the Republic of Korea on 11 September in Seoul, where they discussed ways churches and the wider ecumenical movement could help reopen pathways for dialogue and peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Members of Mora United Methodist and their pastor reach beyond the church’s walls to connect with neighbors.

Evangelical Alliance NI's response to the ‘Conversion Practices (Criminalisation) Bill’ Call for Evidence

A longtime member and church trustee looks back on visiting the United Methodist church in Lower Manhattan on the day of the Sept. 11 attacks and how United Methodists responded.

This podcast episode explores how spiritual principles are fostering greater unity, participation, and shared responsibility in communities across Papua New Guinea.

[Episcopal News Service] A bishop in the Anglican Church in North America, or ACNA, has submitted himself to potential disciplinary action after facing criticism from within his denomination for appearing last month alongside an Episcopal bishop at a school chapel dedication in Charleston, South Carolina. ACNA Bishop Chip Edgar issued an apology to his Charleston-based diocese on Aug. 25, acknowledging that “photographs of me and the Episcopal bishop have caused pain and confusion.” Edgar and Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina both sit on the board of Porter-Gaud School, which accepts students in grades 1-12. The independent school, rooted in the Episcopal tradition, chose to maintain ties to both denominations after a group of South Carolina Episcopalians, led by their bishop, left The Episcopal Church in 2012 over theological differences and joined the newly created ACNA. The two current South Carolina bishops took office nearly a decade after the diocesan split – Woodliff-Stanley in 2021 and Edgar in 2022 – and have developed a respectful ecumenical relationship. Most notably, they worked closely in 2022 to resolve the decade-long property litigation between the two dioceses. Woodliff-Stanley, in an interview with Episcopal News Service, said neither she nor Edgar is naïve about the persistence of ongoing theological differences between The Episcopal Church and ACNA, and their dioceses’ mutual ties to the Porter-Gaud School have offered opportunities to remain in conversation. “To me, this is really about working across lines of difference in spaces where we can,” she said. In that context, the reaction within ACNA to the Aug. 18 chapel dedication has been disappointing, Woodliff-Stanley said. “We really had what I think was just a beautiful coming together and quite a lovely liturgy, and I’m just heartbroken and distressed that that would lead others to consternation.” Edgar’s precise offense wasn’t immediately clear. ACNA Bishop Julian Dobbs, head of the ACNA province that includes Edgar’s diocese, issued a statement saying some Anglicans were “shocked by what appears to be renewed communion with The Episcopal Church.” “The Anglican Church in North America is not in communion with The Episcopal Church, and those who hold ecclesiastical authority in our province bear a solemn responsibility to uphold this position,” Dobbs said. He also restated the common ACNA claim that Episcopalians had “departed from the faith,” likely a reference to The Episcopal Church’s record of embracing greater LGBTQ+ inclusion in church life. Edgar, in his letter, said some people saw photos of the chapel dedication service and mistakenly thought he and Woodliff-Stanley had celebrated Eucharist at the altar together. “The liturgy was planned so that neither bishop would preach or celebrate the Eucharist,” he said. “Perhaps the greatest outcry has come from a photo of me with my crozier and the Episcopal bishop with her hand on it. I wish I could go back and change that,” Edgar said. “Neither bishop was to carry a crozier in the service, as the chapel is independent of both dioceses. At the last minute I was asked to use my crozier only to mark the sign of the cross on the threshold of the door. “After that, I put my crozier away. It was not carried into the chapel nor was it used in any other part of the service. Clearly, both of our hands should not have been on it, even if only momentarily.” Under ACNA’s canons, it takes only three bishops to file a disciplinary charge, or presentment, against a fellow bishop. “A complement” of bishops took that action against Edgar, according to a follow-up statement from Dobbs on Sept. 2 that noted what he described as “the seriousness of the situation.” Edgar has “agreed with the charges against him and has consented to be disciplined by the College of Bishops when it gathers later this month,” Dobbs said. “This act of humble submission means there will be no board of inquiry, nor a trial.” Dobbs did not specify the date of the bishops’ meeting. Woodliff-Stanley said she has not received any similar criticism from her Episcopal colleagues over the episode. “When you look at all of the things going on in the world by which we might be concerned … to think that two bishops who have developed a holy friendship across lines of difference sharing a service at a school would create that level of consternation is mystifying to me. It’s beyond words.” Some church leaders in both The Episcopal Church and ACNA have cited the Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Wisconsin as a well-established model for interdenominational dialogue and coordination. The Episcopal seminary welcomes students from both denominations, and its board of visitors and voard of directors include both Episcopal and ACNA leaders. The Rev. Matthew Olver, an Episcopal priest who teaches at Nashotah House and serves as publisher of The Living Church Foundation, posted an article on The Living Church website decrying the “swift and, in some cases, vicious” reaction to Edgar from some of his ACNA colleagues. At the same time, Olver voiced concerns about what the incident means for the future of ecumenical relations between the two denominations. “What, exactly, does the ACNA think the Episcopal Church is?” Olver said. Applying ACNA’s own texts to Edgar’s alleged offenses, he suggested Anglican leaders need not reject all interaction with their Episcopal counterparts. Unless ACNA concludes no ecumenical relationship is possible, The Episcopal Church “remains a church of Christ with whom relationship is not only possible but required.” Though the differences between the two denominations may remain profound, Woodliff-Stanley said she thinks church leaders are called to attempt the difficult work of conversation across those differences, especially to model that behavior for the students at Porter-Gaud School. Woodliff-Stanley cited a passage from 2 Corinthians 5: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” Episcopalians in South Carolina are not interested in engaging in a theology of division, she said. “People are really eager to be […]