Latest News

[Anglican Communion News Service] Mothers’ Union celebrated 150 years of faith, service and transformation with a special anniversary service at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, England. More than 1,500 members, senior church leaders, supporters and partners from the Anglican Communion and charity sector participated in the service. The June 10 service celebrated a movement that’s grown from a small parish initiative to a global Christian organization with 4 million members in more than 80 countries. It also marked the beginning of Mother’s Union’s next chapter as the organization continues to grow its impact across the Anglican Communion and beyond. Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally, a Mothers’ Union member, preached. Her sermon reflected on the movement’s legacy and thanked those who have worked towards ending poverty, injustice and violence. “You have made such a difference not just to the church [but] to your communities and to the world,” Mullally said. “You are salt and light, and we are grateful.” Read the entire article here.

[Anglican Communion News Service] Pope Leo XIV’s first papal encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence,” invites reflection on the ethical implications of AI on war, relationships and the battle between good and evil. The pope signed the encyclical last month. “At key moments in history, the church is called to decipher the new things in the light of the Gospel and the dignity of the human being,” Leo said during an event marking the encyclical’s release. “Artificial intelligence already touches many areas of our lives and affects decisions that shape human coexistence. It is also dramatically changing how war is waged.” Some Anglican leaders, including Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally and Texas Bishop C. Andrew Doyle, have responded to “Magnifica Humanitas” and their perspectives on AI’s expanding role in society. “The pope is correct that there is a danger here. It is concerning that a few companies, individuals no less, hold a lion’s share of the world’s data and power. Such powers and institutions, easily taking on a life of their own and using the very people they promise to serve, are not new,” Doyle, who chairs The Episcopal Church’s Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property, told Anglican Communion News Service. “The encyclical is a gift, and as global Anglicans, we receive it with gratitude and learn from its clarity. Yet we must offer our own word on AI rather than echoing the pope.” Read the entire article here.

[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Church in Navajoland’s Standing Committee announced June 11 that it would, for a second time, postpone its bishop election to an unspecified date in the future. “After prayerful consultation and discernment, the election has been postponed to a future date. This is a postponement of the election process, not a cancellation,” the Standing Committee said in the June 11 statement. “Both nominees remain in the process and will continue to be considered when the election is reconvened.” The Rev. Cornelia Eaton, the missionary diocese’s canon to the ordinary, and the Rev. Leon Sampson, co-vicar of the diocese’s southeast region, were scheduled to stand for election on June 13. In its statement, the Standing Committee acknowledged that suspension of the Election Convention may come “as a surprise and raise questions,” and added that the diocese will still gather June 12-13 for worship, fellowship, prayer, conversation, and discernment.” The 81st General Convention authorized the creation of the Missionary Diocese of Navajoland in June 2024,  and that process was completed a year later, when Executive Council voted to accept the new missionary diocese’s constitution. “Navajoland was already living as a missionary diocese in spirit and practice,” GJ Gordy, an Executive Council member from Navajoland, said before the council’s vote. “This is not just a structural change. It is recognition of our readiness to lead ourselves.” The Episcopal Church’s ministry on the 27,000-square-mile Navajo reservation dates back more than a century to medical missions established in Fort Defiance, Arizona; Farmington, New Mexico; and Bluff, Utah. Navajoland was the name given to the area mission created by The Episcopal Church in 1977. Area missions’ bishops are appointed to the role by the House of Bishops rather than elected by a local convention. The Rt. Rev. Barry Beisner was the last bishop appointed to the area mission in this way. He was scheduled to retire this year. In 2022, the 80th General Convention passed a resolution entrusting Navajoland “to establish its own rules and procedures for a process of discernment for the calling of a bishop that reflects the values, teachings, and traditions of the Diné.”  Navajoland leaders worked on the plan with the church’s Standing Commission on Structure, Governance, Constitution and Canons, and, in January 2024, a special convocation in Navajoland voted in favor of the request for missionary diocese status. Missionary diocese status empowered Navajoland to adopt its own constitution and canons, in compliance with The Episcopal Church Constitution and Canons, and to hold an annual diocesan convention and elect a bishop, standing committee, and clergy and lay deputations to General Convention. After bishops and deputies authorized the elevation of Navajoland to missionary-diocese status at the 81st General Convention, Navajoland followed up by holding its first diocesan convention in June 2025, where it approved its new constitution. Its preamble, written in English and the Diné language, incorporates Navajoland’s mission statement into a document that respects Navajo culture and spiritual practices. “In the name of Jesus Christ, the Holy One, we set out to walk in harmony, seeking forgiveness and wholeness,” the preamble says. “Through compassion and service, Love binds us in relationship to all creation. In the Beauty Way all is restored again.” The church’s 2025-27 triennial budget includes $800,000 for the bishop in charge of Navajoland, as well as a $1.4 million block grant. In November 2025, the diocese announced a slate of three candidates for bishop, including Eaton and Sampson, who were set to stand for election on Jan. 3, 2026. Both Eaton and Sampson had been serving as members of Navojoland’s Standing Committee but took a leave of absence after being named to the bishop slate. Then, in mid-December, the diocese announced it was postponing its election until sometime in June. “As our nominees walked with us within the four sacred mountains of the Navajo Nation, we recognized that our discernment among these three nominees must be extended,” the diocese said. A few days later, the third bishop candidate, the Rev. Alyssa Stebbing of the Diocese of Texas, announced she was withdrawing from consideration. “I hope that I can continue to support the Episcopal Church in Navajoland and walk with the people and their clergy, including the new bishop,” Stebbing said. The Standing Committee said it would answer questions about the election process and next steps during the June 12-13 gathering and in future updates. “The Episcopal Church in Navajoland remains committed to the election of its first Bishop Diocesan and to seeking God’s guidance for the future of our Diocese,” its statement said. “Please continue to pray for the nominees, the Standing Committee, our clergy and delegates, and all the people of Navajoland.”

The Methodist Church of Mexico reaffirmed its historic relationship with The United Methodist Church by continuing the concordat covenant between the two churches.

Lisa Barr explores the vital role fathers play and what different expressions of fatherhood teach us about God's heart

In a statement entitled “From the Proliferation of War to the Way of Just Peace: A Renewed Ecumenical Appeal,” the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee called churches to work for peace with every means at their disposal.

The World Council of Churches executive committee, in a statement, recognized that we are living in a time of profound ecological breakdown and deepening human suffering, tearing the interconnected design of all that God has created.

The executive committee of the World Council of Churches, in a minute, renewed its longstanding commitment for a just, comprehensive, and sustainable peace for the people of Colombia.

In a statement, the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee lamented the shift in geopolitics that represents a serious rupture in relations and of the political context for inter-Korean cooperation for peace and for the peaceful reunification of the divided Korean people.

The WCC executive committee acknowledged the role of churches amid the health emergency in the Democratic Republic of the Congo following the outbreak of Ebola, particularly in conflict-affected areas.