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For nearly 80 years, CWS has stood for welcome and for dignified, community-centered solutions to hunger, poverty, displacement and disaster. We’ve never stood alone. Churches and people of faith from across the United States and around the world stand shoulder to shoulder with us in vision and mission every day.   On Ash Wednesday, CWS launched The Ash Wednesday Ecumenical ... Read More

[Episcopal News Service] Washington Bishop Mariann Budde has drawn intense national and international attention in the past month for her Jan. 21 sermon at Washington National Cathedral,  in which she spoke directly to President Donald Trump in attendance and asked him to “have mercy.” This week, Budde thanked all the people who have responded favorably to that sermon, in a video message she recorded literally in front of some 20,000 positive responses – a mountain of letters piled high in postal crates on a desk. “I cannot tell you how much it has meant to me to receive the letters and phone calls and notes and gifts and expressions of gratitude, support and encouragement, and I am persuaded that there is a spirit of love and goodness in this land that flows through all of us,” Budde said. Budde, in her post-inauguration sermon, had asked Trump to show mercy to “the people in our country who are scared now,” and she specifically held up the fears felt by many LGTBQ+ people and immigrants at the start of Trump’s second term. Trump later demanded an apology, calling Budde a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater” whose sermon was “ungracious” and “nasty in tone.” Though many of Trump’s supporters shared the president’s view, Budde also became a kind of folk hero for many Americans who saw her as one of the few public figures calling for compassion and respect for human dignity as the new Trump administration began swiftly upending existing policies and democratic norms. Last week, churchwide leaders thanked Budde personally for her “courageous, Gospel-related words” when she appeared via Zoom in a gathering with members of Executive Council, which was meeting Feb. 17-19 in suburban Baltimore, Maryland. Executive Council greeted Budde with applause, according to an official summary of the meeting. “Then council members shared stories of the impact of her remarks as well as concerns about her safety,” the summary said. “Budde reassured everyone she was fine. One speaker described Budde’s remarks as a breaking in of the Spirit into the midst of much turmoil.” A Diocese of Washington spokesperson said nearly all of the more than 20,000 pieces of physical mail Budde received in the past month were positive. “They are almost all letters of thanks to Bishop Budde for speaking about mercy and kindness and for helping them feel comfort in their fear,” she told Episcopal News Service. Email communications to Budde and the diocese, on the other hand, have been more divided, some angry at the bishop and others expressing gratitude and support. Budde offered more words of encouragement in her video statement, posted Feb. 25 as a Facebook reel. The video had logged more than 300,000 views in less than two days. “Now is a time for us to stand together, to take courage from one another and learn together how we are to be brave now and to hold on to the things that are good about us and about our country,” Budde said. “Together, God will work through us to bring about the kind of society, the kind of community, that we all deserve and that we want to pass on to those who come after us. So, take good care, have courage and remember that together we can all be brave.” – David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay welcomed Br Matthew, prior of the Taizé Community, as well as seven other Taizé brothers, who visited Geneva for three days this week. 

Upon the admission of Archbishop Anastasios of Albania to “Evangelismos” Hospital in Athens at the beginning of January 2025, expressions of widespread acceptance and appreciation emerged from people of all educational backgrounds and ages, from various societal circles (ecclesiastical, academic, political, journalistic), as well as from international inter-Christian and interfaith communities and beyond.

A “Pasqua Together 2025” delegation visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 27 February during the JC2033 International Gathering in Geneva to discuss the movement of Christians around the world who are celebrating the 2000th anniversary of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter 2033.

Canadian asset owners call for continued climate leadership from Canada’s financial institutions.

[Episcopal News Service] “We’re embarking on a season of change … and it’s never easy,” Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe said during a Feb. 26 keynote conversation at the 40th annual Episcopal Parish Network conference in Kansas City, Missouri. “This institution has got to change and shift. … I think the key with leadership in this time is not to be seduced by praise or depressed by criticism, but to do our most faithful work,” he said.  Nearly 700 Episcopal clergy and lay leaders churchwide are gathering at the Westin Kansas City at Crown Center here for the Feb. 25-28 conference. This year’s theme, “Together in Hope: Leading With Purpose,” is intended to inspire Episcopalians to be productive leaders during times of transition, both in the church and in society. Rowe’s keynote conversation on the topic “Vision for Our Future” with Eric Motley, deputy director of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and chair of the chapter at Washington National Cathedral, largely focused on innovative models of governance, collaboration and ministry to address necessary structural changes in The Episcopal Church. Formerly known as the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes, the Episcopal Parish Network is a national, membership-based organization of clergy and lay leaders representing more than 250 parishes of all sizes and budgets. The network offers peer-to-peer online education and other leadership initiatives throughout the year. Its conference, the largest annual Episcopal gathering, is a time for clergy and lay leaders to learn from each other and share best practices for creating vigorous ministries and congregations. Sister Sarah Randall, a member of the Society of St. Margaret, an Episcopal women’s religious order, took notes during the keynote conversation. Afterward, she told Episcopal News Service that she appreciated Rowe explaining why structural changes are necessary for the church’s relevance in the long run, even though there may initially be “a lot of hurt” in the process. She also said she appreciated that Rowe “kept bringing it back to Jesus” throughout the conversation. “I’ll have to go back to my notes for reference because Bishop Rowe gave us a lot of food for thought and for prayer,” she said. “I liked the fact that he was calling a spade a spade, and at the same time he was explaining why there is still hope. If we are focused, we have all these things to do that are all good things that need to happen.” Rowe’s keynote conversation occurred less than a week after he announced staff cuts and the reorganization of several church departments as part of an anticipated structural realignment that eventually will reduce positions from about 143 to 110 and save an estimated $2.13 million a year – at least in the short term – in personnel costs.  Adaptive change requires identifying the actual problems, learning what the solutions are, and then saying the problems belong, not with the experts, but with all the stakeholders. In the first phase, he said, there will be errors. “I think I’ll know what success looks like if this church is doing what we’re called to do, which is to reach people from the Gospel and reconcile the world to God in Christ,” Rowe said. “We don’t need to be creating programs as much as empowering local grassroots networks for a more networked church. …We want to make a greater impact, and we’re networked together and we’re doing it in a way that is encouraging and inspiring to each other.” The Rev. Leon Sampson, an Arizona-based Navajoland priest and a member of The Episcopal Church’s research commission on Indigenous boarding schools, provided the opening prayer for the conversation in his native Navajo language. He told ENS that Rowe’s pointed self-awareness concerning the feedback he’d receive in response to the church’s staffing changes was “like fresh water” coming for the church in a time of uncertainty. “It was an affirmation for us to hear that we’re in the right place, and we’re in the right direction,” Sampson said. “This is a time of discernment for the church to take action in ensuring its vitality and recognize all that’s happening in the world so that we can engage with ministries and outreach in all the right ways.” Rowe said he’s “resigned myself to be maybe one of the least popular presiding bishops” with his plans to put The Episcopal Church on the right track to remain animated and pertinent to a rapidly evolving secular world. At the same time, he said he wants the church to respond compassionately to contemporary global challenges. “The work of repositioning is going to be painful; it’s also going to be extraordinarily hopeful, and I believe that we will position ourselves to do the things we really want to do,” Rowe said. “That’s what makes it exciting. The kingdom of God is in our midst. Christ is in our midst, and we have some serious issues that we’re facing – and they’re existential.” -Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

Klara Ferreira, originally from South Africa, explains why she loves living in Wales, and shares her hopes for the nation

As the Christian world enters the Lenten season, the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Water Network will launch its annual Seven Weeks for Water campaign with a prayer service at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland.