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[Church of Ireland] Half a century of service in episcopal ministry was celebrated June 9 – St. Columba’s Day – when a congregation gathered for a choral Eucharist in St. Columb’s Cathedral, Londonderry, Ireland, to mark the 50th anniversary of the consecration of the Rt. Rev. Robin Eames. Eames served as bishop of Derry and Raphoe from 1975 to 1980, and after that as bishop of Down and Dromore, and then archbishop of Armagh and primate of All Ireland, from 1986 until his retirement in 2006.  He was consecrated in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, on June 9, 1975, by Archbishop George Otto Simms, at age 38. The service was led by Archbishop John McDowell, and the preacher was Bishop Andrew Forster, the current bishop of Derry and Raphoe. Forster’s predecessor, Bishop Ken Good, along with Mary Good, Bishop George Davison (bishop of Connor), Bishop Ian Ellis (bishop of Clogher) and Bishop Patrick Rooke (formerly bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achonry) also were present. Archdeacon Mark Harvey (archdeacon of Dromore) represented Bishop David McClay (bishop of Down and Dromore). Scripture was read by Forster and Dean Shane Forster (dean of Armagh), with intercessions led by Archdeacon Robert Miller (archdeacon of Derry). A reception was held afterwards in the Chapter Room, giving many representatives from parish life in the diocese, and guests who had travelled from elsewhere, the opportunity to congratulate Eames, his wife Christine and their sons Michael and Niall. Forster’s sermon from the service is available in the full article here.

The Joint Consultative Group between the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Pentecostal World Fellowship held a meeting from 4–7 June, alongside the Pentecostal World Conference in Helsinki, Finland. The meeting was hosted at Siion Church.

[Church of England] The Church of England on June 9 unveiled plans to invest more than £1.6 billion ($2.1 billion USD) toward sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and serving local communities over the next three years – a 36% rise in the national funding made available in 2022 for the current three-year period. The distributions from the Church Commissioners, which manages the church’s national endowment fund, will support a major package of measures for clergy well-being and a focus on supporting parishes in the lowest-income communities in the country, as well as other key priorities including safeguarding and help for victims of institutional sexual abuse. The majority of the work of the Church of England across the country is paid for through the generosity and giving of those in local congregations – a critical partnership with many faithful people, which is the bedrock of the church’s finances. On top of that, the Commissioners’ funding for the work of the church, distributed through the Archbishops’ Council, is set to increase by more than £430 million ($580 million) between 2026 and 2028 above the previous three-year period, or triennium, which was itself up 30% from the period before. Overall, the Church Commissioners and Archbishops’ Council have set indicative distributions of £4.6 billion ($6.2 billion) in support of the work of the church over nine years to support the church’s vision and strategy to enable the flourishing of parishes and worshipping communities across the whole country and help the church to become younger, more diverse,and safer. Details of how the funding will be divided is available in the full article here.

With bright colors, charisma, and messages of God’s extensive love, folks from across the United Church of Christ were a strong presence at World Pride this past weekend. The international gathering took place in Washington, D.C., where UCC leaders and…

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[Episcopal News Service] Iowa Bishop Betsey Monnot on June 9 released a letter she sent to U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst after her recent comments drew extensive public coverage. It was posted on the diocesan website and social media. In the letter she notes that while they both describe themselves as Christians, “you and I understand what that means very differently,” Monnot said. Pew Research Center identifies Ernst as Lutheran. Monot sent the letter to Ernst’s office on June 4 but hasn’t received a reply, she told Episcopal News Service. The senator’s first comment came during a May 30 town hall meeting in Parkersburg as Ernst was explaining proposed cuts to programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP (formerly known as food stamps), and Medicaid in the federal budget bill that has been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives but awaits action in the Senate. At one point a person in the audience shouted, “People will die,” to which Ernst said, “People are not … well, we all are going to die.” As the crowd groaned, she added, “So, for heaven’s sakes. For heaven’s sakes, folks.” Monnot said she found Ernst’s comments “very dismissive of some really important issues that are central to the Gospel,” but she didn’t think they rose to a level that required her to respond. That changed after Ernst’s second comments, this time made in an Instagram video in which she seemed to apologize for her town hall remarks before noting that she wasn’t aware that everyone there didn’t understand that “we all will perish from this earth,” adding that she was glad she didn’t have to bring up the tooth fairy. She then added that for those who wanted “eternal and everlasting life,” she encouraged people to “embrace my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” “At that moment, the senator crossed over from her lane to my lane,” Monnot told ENS. “My lane is the Gospel lane.” And as bishop and the chief evangelist of the Diocese of Iowa, “I couldn’t not respond to somebody from Iowa with a national platform being, as I said in the letter, unkind, and claiming that as part of her faith in Jesus Christ.” In her letter, Monnot said that as a Christian, Ernst certainly is aware of the times Jesus healed those who were sick. “He did it without asking whether they were eligible or deserving of his care,” she wrote. Noting the Gospel stories of how Jesus fed people, she added, “For Jesus, no one was unworthy of being fed. Again, that’s because that is who Jesus is.” Recalling Ernst’s video invitation to people to “embrace Jesus Christ,” Monnot wrote, “Your recent comments at a town hall meeting, followed by your unkind video, indicate to me that you have forgotten what it means to truly embrace Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You are not showing care for the people who Jesus called ‘the least of these who are members of my family.’” While assuring Ernst of her prayers, Monnot closed by saying, “Today I call upon you to turn again to Jesus whom you claim as Lord, to embrace him, and to serve all people as you would want to serve him. Because it is by your works, not by your words, that Jesus and the world will know your faith.” So far, responses to the letter have been positive, Monnot said. After posting it to her personal Facebook page, she received 53 comments, all in support. The letter drew three comments on the diocese’s Facebook page, all positive. This isn’t the first time she has spoken publicly on important issues. That’s because she said she sees it as her responsibility as bishop “to respond with the voice of the Gospel to things that are happening” in the world. In February Monnot testified at the Iowa Capitol against an anti- trans bill, and in October 2024 she addressed a gathering in Des Moines organized by Interfaith Alliance, a group that fights Christian nationalism. — Melodie Woerman is an Episcopal News Service freelance reporter based in Kansas.

[Episcopal News Service — San Antonio, Texas] Episcopal deacons gathered in San Antonio, Diocese of West Texas, to network, share resources and learn different ways to approach ministry in their communities at the Association for Episcopal Deacons triennial conference. “When we’re at this gathering, we are inspiring deacons to go out and make positive changes, to be the church and to go out into the world and feed communities,” the Rev. Kristi Neal, vice president of the Association for Episcopal Deacons and a deacon at St. James Episcopal Church in Black Mountain, North Carolina, told Episcopal News Service. “We are servant leaders in those communities, instigating, provoking and inspiring that change. … as the priest is an icon of sacrament, and the deacon is an icon of service.” One hundred and forty deacons attended the June 5-8 conference at the Embassy Suites by Hilton San Antonio Landmark Hotel. This year’s theme, “Ignite Change,” highlighted deacons’ call to interpret the needs of the world to The Episcopal Church and to encourage the church to be involved with challenging injustices. This was the first gathering since 2019; there was no conference in 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In The Episcopal Church, deacons and priests are both ordained clergy but fulfill different duties. While among their duties, priests lead worship services and celebrate the sacraments as pastors, deacons’ roles tend to be more service-oriented, directly assisting communities in need, assigned and under the direction of their bishop. And, unlike priests, deacons usually aren’t paid for their work. The church has about 3,300 deacons – including retirees and non-parochial deacons – 1,806 of whom are assigned to a parish, according to Church Pension Group. “Deacons are the bridge between the church and the world,” the Rev. Janice Grinnell, the conference’s chairperson, retired archdeacon of the Diocese of Rhode Island and a former board member of the Association for Episcopal Deacons, told ENS. The gathering began on June 5 with greetings from conference leaders and West Texas Bishop David Read, followed by a keynote address from Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe. He thanked the deacons for “continuing to amplify” the church’s mission. “I think we will see a kind of renewable change … how can we take this into the next iteration of what God is calling us to do? How do we do it in a way that’s transformational, life-changing and world transforming? You’re already doing that,” Rowe said. During the address, Rowe told the deacons that he plans to work with the Association for Episcopal Deacons’ board to determine the best use of a $200,000 grant promised by Resolution D023, adopted by General Convention in 2024. Rowe also listened while some deacons asked questions and shared their concerns. One deacon expressed frustration that deacons “feel like we have a chain around our neck” because of a lack of financial and moral support from bishops and dioceses. Another deacon said they were concerned about the future of The Episcopal Church’s racial reconciliation work as “many of the programs, meetings and newsletters have disappeared over the last several months.” Rowe reassured them that racial reconciliation continues to be a priority for The Episcopal Church, but the process is “changing” and “reorganizing.” Some deacons said the church should take a stronger stance against white Christian nationalism. The Rev. Hailey McKeefry Delmas, director of the Deacons’ Formation Collaborative at Bexley Seabury Seminary in Chicago, Illinois, said during the Q&A session with Rowe that Episcopal church leadership is “top-heavy” and that “we need to focus on growing the bottom, and diaconal ministry is the way to do that.” “It’s the way to make the church more vibrant, more alive, or expressive of what’s going on in God’s imagination,” McKeefry Delmas later told ENS. “The systems that the church is working under really favor putting all our resources into the first half of the baptismal covenant – Will you say the prayers? Will you partake in the sacraments? All of those things are great, but the other half of the baptismal covenant is, ‘Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons’ and ‘respect the dignity of every human being?’ That’s the piece we’re not investing enough time and the money in.” The first day of the conference concluded with Rowe preaching during the opening Eucharist. The second day of the conference on June 6 started with a panel discussion featuring Read, Connecticut Bishop Suffragan Laura Ahrens and New Hampshire Bishop Robert Hirschfeld. The bishops reflected on the church’s evolving vision of the diaconate amid contemporary global challenges, particularly in terms of how deacons respond to urgent social and spiritual needs. The bishops also shared their hopes for the future of diaconal ministry. The panel discussion was mostly well received, though some deacons told ENS that they felt mixed about it. “The bishops in the panel came out with suggestions that we’ve already been doing,” the Rev. Carter Hawley, executive director of the Association for Episcopal Deacons and a deacon at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, told ENS. “It was frustrating to hear, ‘If only you all would just go out and be in community in churches.’ We’ve already been working very hard to increase the visibility of the diaconate.”  Neal said she hopes to bring a delegation of deacons to a future House of Bishops gathering to continue open conversation and relationship-building with the bishops. Workshops throughout the first day included topics ranging from addressing human trafficking and refugee ministries to preaching and the ministry of Episcopal schools. The second plenary – presented by the Rev. Maureen-Elizabeth Hagen, deacon at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Portland, Oregon, and the Rev. Molly James, interim executive officer and secretary of General Convention who was the first dean of the Province 1 School for Deacons – addressed how deacons help the church grow into its mission. The first half of the third plenary included an overview of artificial intelligence and […]

Zakaria Bulus spoke at a recent US Commission on International Religious Freedom hearing on governance in Nigeria, on the topic “Foundation for Securing Freedom of Religion or Belief.” The event was held May 5 in the Cannon Office building in Washington, DC.

Then Jesus said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”  Mark 12:31   Your Church Is Helping CWS Bring Comfort, Dignity and Hope to Our Neighbors  So far this year, thanks to your compassion, CWS Blankets and Kits have been shared from Grand Rapids to Chicago, Dallas to Cleveland, Annapolis to Poughkeepsie—reaching neighbors in ... Read More

The pan-African institution’s class of 2025 featured graduates from 20 African countries, with 59% women.

A significant grant from the Cobb EMC Foundation has allowed Laurel’s Edge, an affordable senior living community in Kennesaw, Georgia, and part of United Church Homes (UCH), to complete its long-awaited flooring replacement project. “This grant is a game-changer for…

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