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Churches from across the Eastern Ontario Outaouais region will gather at the EY Centre in Ottawa on Sunday, June 15 for a bilingual event commemorating the United Church of Canada’s Centennial.

[Episcopal News Service – Milwaukee, Wisconsin] Bishop Matthew Gunter – as a bishop, and for his diocese – was trying something new just by being here. Gunter, the former bishop of Fond du Lac, has served as bishop of the reunited Diocese of Wisconsin for the past year, since the June 2024 merger of the state’s three Episcopal dioceses. Last week, Gunter completed his first weeklong “residency” in Milwaukee. He plans to travel to all five of the diocese’s regions each year for similar “bishop in residence” weeks. The regional structure is central to the Diocese of Wisconsin’s plan to ensure Episcopalians in all 100 or so congregations in the state remain connected to and supported by their bishop and diocesan staff. Wisconsin is one of a series of recently merged dioceses and pending reunions. The Diocese of the Great Lakes, a recent merger of two Michigan dioceses, is now calling its first bishop. The dioceses of Central Pennsylvania and Bethlehem hope to finalize their reunion in January 2026. The dioceses of Northern Indiana and Indianapolis also are in talks about their future together. All provide potential collaborative models and strategies for the rest of The Episcopal Church as it responds to long-term membership decline and limited resources. On June 4, at a weekday morning Eucharist at the St. John’s on the Lake retirement community, Gunter joined 25 or so worshippers who welcomed him warmly to their downtown Milwaukee high-rise. During his sermon in St. John’s chapel, Gunter emphasized the exciting changes underway in their diocese over the past year as Episcopalians in Wisconsin experiment with “ways to be faithful into the 21st century.” Throughout last week, Gunter participated in a range of events and parish visits across the diocese’s newly created Lakeshore Region, which parallels the Lake Michigan shore from Sheboygan to Kenosha. Each of Wisconsin’s five regions contains about 20 congregations, formerly part of the dioceses of Milwaukee, Fond du Lac and Eau Claire. Gunter still hopes to visit every congregation in the state individually on a multiyear rotation, but the “bishop in residence” weeks mean all Episcopalians still will have opportunities to see their bishop at least once a year in their region. He also will preside separately at regional confirmations; the first was held May 18 at Trinity Episcopal Church in the western Milwaukee suburb of Wauwatosa. During his residency week, Gunter celebrated Eucharist on June 1 at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Racine and Compline at St. John the Divine Episcopal Church in Burlington. He met June 3 with his regional counterparts in the Roman Catholic Church and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. On June 8, he visited Grace Episcopal Church in Sheboygan, while later in the day regional clergy marched with other Episcopalians in Milwaukee’s annual Pride Parade. Gunter also joined a few dozen clergy and lay leaders at Trinity Episcopal Church for a daylong educational session June 7 led by the diocese’s Formation and Discipleship Mission Action Team. The diocese created four action teams as part of its reunion plan to help coordinate statewide efforts in four focus areas. The other three are stewardship, evangelism and community engagement. In an interview with Episcopal News Service after the Eucharist at St. John’s on the Lake, Gunter said he has been encouraged by how smoothly the transition has gone over the past year, though he noted that the reunited diocese will continue to learn and adapt as necessary. “We’ll do some review and decide what’s working, what’s not working,” Gunter said. This residency week was “the first one,” he said, “so we’re kind of feeling our way.” St. John’s on the Lake is just a mile from All Saints Cathedral, once the seat of the bishop of the former Diocese of Milwaukee. Today’s Diocese of Wisconsin is not headquartered in any one place, though Gunter lives in Neenah, a small city on Lake Winnebago that is located roughly in the center of the state, putting the bishop within a few hours’ drive of the farthest congregations. The original Diocese of Wisconsin dates to 1847, the year before its namesake territory became a state. After the Diocese of Fond du Lac was established in 1875 in response to population growth in northeastern Wisconsin, the remaining diocese changed its name to the Diocese of Milwaukee in 1886. Then, as more people moved into the northwest part of the state, the Diocese of Eau Claire was carved from parts of the other two dioceses in 1928. In today’s Wisconsin, a state of about 6 million residents, Episcopal church membership has steadily declined – down overall by a third in the past decade. In 2021, the three dioceses launched a formal process “to explore ways to deepen cooperation and coordination” at a time of bishop transition in the dioceses of Milwaukee and Eau Claire. That process culminated in the June 2024 votes by the 81st General Convention approving the reunited Diocese of Wisconsin. Under the reunited diocese’s regional structure, a missioner is assigned to each region, to support and collaborate with congregations throughout the year between bishop visits. The missioner for the Lakeshore Region is the Rev. Jana Troutman Miller, who also serves at the St. John’s on the Lake director of spiritual care. “All the preparation has really paid off,” Troutman-Miller told ENS, referring to the three years of discernment and planning that preceded the diocesan reunification. In the Lakeshore Region, Troutman-Miller organizes in-person clergy gatherings four times a year. In addition, at least once between those gatherings, she reaches out to talk individually with the priest or senior warden at each congregation in her region, so they feel connected to the diocese and supported. Although Wisconsin became a larger diocese after the merger, the goal has been to provide congregations with more pastoral and episcopal care, not less, Gunter said. “The regions are meant to make sure that nobody falls through the cracks,” he said. To have someone […]

We pray for peace and healing for the people of Ballymena

We pray for peace and healing for the people of Ballymena

World Council of Churches president from North America Rev. Dr Angelique Walker-Smith has authored a book, A Legacy of Faith and Justice: Pan-African Advocacy and Leadership for Ending Hunger, that celebrates 50 years of advocacy through Bread for the World.

 Last updated: Thursday, June 12, 2025  This resource provides daily updates from the CWS policy team in your inbox on the latest policy changes; the morning’s headlines on key issues impacting refugees and immigrants; and updated tools to take action. Subscribe now to receive daily updates on the latest developments and ways to support impacted communities. State of Play The ... Read More

Ethan Loewi

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In this interview, Alix Dick and Antero Garcia, cowriters of The Cost of Being Undocumented, discuss the human and financial price many immigrants pay for life in the United States.

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We unequivocally condemn the offensive and degrading remarks about Reform Judaism made by MK Galit Distel-Atbaryan in a Knesset committee.