Episcopal News Service

[Anglican Communion News Service] During a reception at the United Nations’ biennial Conference of the Parties on the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Rt. Rev. Cathleen Bascom, The Episcopal Church’s eco-region networks coordinator and former bishop of Kansas, shared how churches are working to restore and protect oceans. Bascom highlighted how the eco-region networks address region-specific biodiversity and climate issues, including aiming to “save the prairie and the Chesapeake Bay … restore oyster beds and to contain urban runoff in the Gulf Coast.” “Our network is preserving the continuum of habitats from the headwaters to the deltas in the Caribbean basin,” Bascom said. “They are focusing on coral reefs, to name just a few.” The 17th biodiversity conference, or COP17, is taking place Oct. 19-30 in Yerevan, Armenia. Bascom is there representing Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe as part of a five-person Anglican delegation. Read the full article here.

[World Council of Churches] The World Council of Churches Ecumenical Officers Network gathered online Oct. 27-28  for mutual learning and collaboration. The meeting brought together representatives of member churches worldwide to share experiences, address common challenges and explore priorities for the ecumenical movement. The meeting provided space for church representatives to introduce their work, welcome new participants, and exchange perspectives on ecumenical relations. For example, Gillian Kingston, from the Methodist Church in Ireland, reported that the Methodist Church in Ireland and the Church of Ireland, which is an Anglican church, have achieved full interchangeability of ordained ministries. “This was the result of a lengthy process, but it has now been successfully implemented,” said Kingston. “An ordained minister of the Methodist Church in Ireland can serve as a priest in the Church of Ireland, and vice versa.” The network seeks to strengthen relationships among member churches and support their common witness for justice, reconciliation and unity. Read the full article here.

[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Church is approaching full compliance with payments of its diocesan assessments, which are the largest source of revenue supporting the churchwide budget. Each of the church’s 106 dioceses, after an exemption for its first $200,000 in annual revenue, is required to contribute 15% of the rest of the income to the wider church. Only five dioceses — Albany, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Florida and Navajoland — requested and received waivers from that requirement in 2026. The five previously had received assessment waivers for 2025 as well, as did New Jersey and Southwest Florida. Those two additional dioceses did not request new waivers for 2026 and are expected to pay their full assessments for the year. Full compliance from all dioceses would mean estimated assessment revenue of about $31 million in 2026, or nearly 65% of the church’s total $49 million in budgeted revenue. Every year, however, church officials plan for some dioceses to fall short, either because they are struggling under financial hardships or, in rarer cases, because they decline to pay their share. Executive Council, the church’s governing and oversight body between meetings of General Convention, voted at its Oct. 19 meeting to approve partial waivers totaling $285,000 to the five requesting dioceses in 2026. That is less than half the $582,000 in waivers approved a year ago. Financial hardship is typically seen as a valid reason for requesting waivers. They are also sometimes granted to dioceses that are gradually increasing their contributions after previously failing to pay their full assessments. The five dioceses that were granted waivers from paying the full 15% still have been asked to increase their payment rates for 2026, bringing them closer to compliance. The Diocese of Albany is now committed to paying a rate of 10%, while the Diocese of Florida has committed to 11.5%. Both dioceses previously had been paying lower assessment rates under former conservative bishops, who had been at odds with the wider Episcopal Church over some of its theologically more progressive stances, particularly toward LGBTQ+ inclusion. Colombia and Dominican Republic are two of the dioceses in the church’s Latin American Province IX that have struggled for years toward financial sustainability. Colombia received a waiver of $34,400, for an effective assessment rate of 1%, and the Dominican Republic received a $90,100 waiver, also putting it at 3%. Navajoland is a relatively new missionary diocese, established by votes of the 81st General Convention in 2024 and Executive Council in 2025. This month, it received an assessment waiver of $21,100 based on a 2026 assessment rate of 2.9%. The Diocese of New Jersey, which had been working to address past accounting irregularities, first received a waiver in 2024. A year ago, Executive Council granted it another waiver of $155,000 for an assessment rate of 11%, but this year it is paying the full 15%. A year ago, the Diocese of Southwest Florida was still recovering from Hurricane Milton, which hit in October 2024. It requested and received a waiver of $150,000 from its 2025 assessment and did not request another waiver in 2026. The only diocese that has not committed to paying the full 15% or requested a waiver for 2026 is the Diocese of Springfield, which encompasses the largely rural lower half of Illinois. In the past, it has followed an internal policy of leaving the question of assessments up to congregations – they decide what portion of their assessments to the diocese will be relayed to The Episcopal Church — which has produced an annual diocesan assessment payment well below 15%. Episcopal News Service sought comment from the Diocese of Springfield for this story, which will be updated upon receiving a response. The Episcopal Church has worked over the past several years to secure full assessment payments from nearly all of its dioceses and the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe. Some less resourced dioceses are not required to pay any assessments because they have reported diocesan income lower than the $200,000 exemption. Dioceses that don’t contribute at the 15% rate and fail to apply for or receive approval for waivers can be ruled ineligible from participating in churchwide grant programs for one year. – David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at [email protected].

[World Council of Churches] Wildfires across Indonesia are threatening human life and nature as they burn across the Southeast Asia archipelago. The fires are rapidly approaching churches and villages and have devastated wildlife and plant life, threatening numerous species. The Communion of Churches in Indonesia and several partners are working to establish oxygen shelters — temporary public health stations that provide filtered air or short-term oxygen therapy to people with respiratory issues, asthma or smoke inhalation symptoms — across Kalimantan. “We want our brothers and sisters in the affected communities to know that they are not forgotten and that the churches are standing alongside them in this difficult time,” said Rev. Darwin Darmawan, general secretary of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia. Read the full article here.

[World Council of Churches] An international symposium at Lund University in Sweden reminded participants in the ongoing World Council of Churches Commission on Faith and Order meeting of the significance of concrete steps toward Christian unity, not least when other societal structures face pressure or risk crumbling. “When the World Falls Apart, Churches Are Getting Together” was the theme of the Oct. 28 symposium, organized by the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies in connection with the Commission on Faith and Order meeting taking place Oct. 26-31 in Lund and Höör. Lund is historically significant for the ecumenical movement. The city was the founding location of the Lutheran World Federation in 1947, and in 1952 hosted the Third World Conference on Faith and Order. In 2016, Lutherans, Roman Catholics and other ecumenical partners jointly commemorated the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Read the full article here.

[Anglican Communion News Service] Bishops, scientists and theologians from across the Anglican Communion are at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria to develop local science and faith initiatives and to support a new generation of young leaders. The Anglican Communion Science Commission facilitated the Oct. 26-30 meeting, which is exploring various topics, including artificial intelligence, disaster response and the relationship between scientific discovery and Christianity. The commission, which formally launched in 2022 at the Lambeth Conference, equips churches to collaborate with scientific communities in responding to human need and to contribute Christian ethical perspectives to developments in science and technology. Read the full article here.

[Episcopal News Service] The Diocese of Olympia, with congregations on the Pacific Coast side of the state of Washington, announced Oct. 28 that it will transition management of its $100 million investment fund to The Episcopal Church’s endowment, becoming one of the largest diocesan trusts under churchwide management. “For decades, our fund has been managed by volunteers overseen by the board’s Investments Committee,” the Diocese of Olympia’s board of directors said in a letter to shareholders. “While this has served us well in the past, the complexity of modern markets requires institutional expertise.” The change means the diocese’s assets will become one of the many custodial trusts managed within the churchwide endowment by the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, The Episcopal Church’s New York-based corporate entity. Episcopal Church Chief Financial Officer Christopher Lacovara provided additional context in response to an inquiry from Episcopal News Service. “We manage trust funds for more than a dozen dioceses and more than 150 congregations, plus trust funds for a variety of Episcopal charities and organizations,” Lacovara said. “The total program is $350 million, in addition to the [Episcopal Church] endowment of $500 million.” The Diocese of Olympia, in its online news release, listed several benefits of this new management plan. The diocese’s trust will be invested in assets that are aligned with The Episcopal Church’s “no buy” list and other corporate social responsibility initiatives. The Episcopal Church does not charge management fees, and it can better diversify the trust’s investments and ensure returns even in times of market volatility, the diocese said. And the investment returns historically have been better. The DFMS Trust has generated an average annual return of 8.3% since 1993, the diocese said, while the diocese’s own benchmark showed an annual return of 7.8%. “As faithful followers of Jesus in Western Washington, this change will help congregations better support mission-critical ministries throughout our diocese,” Olympia Bishop Phil LaBelle said in the release. “We are thrilled to partner with DFMS in this way.”

[Episcopal News Service] Every morning of the six-day 82nd General Convention in July 2027 will be set aside for worship, Bible studies, and small-group discussions with bishops and deputies at the same tables. The legislative agenda will encourage deeper discernment on key issues, including through a new structure with distinct committees focused on artificial intelligence, racial justice and the Holy Land. And the Virtual Binder is gone. Instead, bishops and deputies can research and follow legislation by using General Convention’s newly designed software, dubbed the Governance and Legislative System, or GLS. “Its design makes resolutions easier to find and follow, clarifies the status of legislation and amendments and helps participants understand the business before them,” The Episcopal Church’s presiding officers said Oct. 28 in a letter outlining those and other expectations for next year’s churchwide gathering in Phoenix, Arizona. Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe and House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris, in their joint letter to the church, unveiled their vision for the 82nd General Convention with the theme of “Rising in Hope.” “As your presiding officers for General Convention, we are united in a vision for this work as a community of discernment,” Rowe and Ayala Harris said. “We want to create the conditions for the church to gather, pray, listen, build relationships and effectively carry out the responsibilities entrusted to us. We want you to arrive prepared to contribute and return home with a sense of purpose, connection, and hope for the work ahead.” General Convention is the church’s bicameral governing body, which divides its authority between the House of Bishops and House of Deputies. Every three years, hundreds of bishops and deputies gather in a different host city for a week of fellowship, formation, networking, socializing and the church’s core legislative work, including passage of the churchwide triennial budget plan. “We are so excited to welcome The Episcopal Church to the vibrant culture and life of Arizona,” Arizona Bishop Jennifer Reddall said in a written statement to Episcopal News Service as her diocese prepares to host the July 3-8 gathering. It will convene at the Phoenix Convention Center. The way the church gathers as General Convention has evolved substantially in recent years, particularly since the pandemic-delayed 80th General Convention held in 2022 in Baltimore, Maryland. It was shortened to four days while implementing a range of health precautions. The 81st General Convention in 2024 marked a return to a more traditional gathering in Louisville, Kentucky, though business was conducted over six days, still shorter than the convention’s historical length of eight days or more. The gathering next year in Phoenix will again be six days. Committees are now forming for online meetings that have become the norm in advance of the in-person meeting. Detailed plans are still taking shape after church leaders spent the past two years receiving feedback from General Convention attendees and considering ways of further reimagining the church’s governing structures and the gathering’s function. “How we gather, how we care for one another and how we make decisions all express what we believe about the church,” Rowe and Ayala Harris said. “In a culture that often rewards division and treats disagreements as contests to be won, we have an opportunity to practice something different. Our deliberations can make room for conviction, curiosity and the possibility that listening to one another will deepen our understanding.” In 2024, General Convention passed a resolution calling on the church to assess recent changes to the legislative process, the technology that supports legislative deliberations and the convention’s length, and then propose amendments to the bishops’ and deputies’ Rules of Order that would improve the convention’s work. Rowe and Ayala Harris appointed a committee to carry out those assessments, known as the General Convention Reinvention Steering Committee. It was chaired by Minnesota Bishop Craig Loya and the Rev. Scott Gunn, executive director of Forward Movement. One of the committee’s central recommendations was to find ways to foster deeper discernment at General Convention on a smaller number of key issues, Loya told ENS in an interview this month, and to “ground ourselves in Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit.” That grounding will happen in the mornings in Phoenix, Loya said. “We’re imagining that every morning of this coming General Convention will be spent in prayer and Bible studies with bishop and deputies.” The Reinvention Steering Committee presented its recommendations to the Joint Standing Committee on Planning and Arrangements, which is now leading churchwide preparations for the 82nd General Convention in collaboration with the presiding officers. As legislative process evolves, budget gets an overhaul Ayala Harris told ENS that the new vision for General Convention is also based on a fall 2024 survey of past attendees. Respondents said they enjoyed the sense of community, inclusive worship services and the democratic process by which the church made some historic decisions in Louisville. On the other hand, they cited challenges navigating the convention’s technology while struggling with time management in the face of what they said was an inefficient legislative process. Some procedural changes were adopted by House of Deputies through its Rules of Order in 2024. Before convening, deputies had spent several months reviewing and debating a series of proposed rules changes, and some of the more controversial proposals were rejected in Louisville. This year, the House of Deputies is not considering a comparable set of potential rules changes for the upcoming convention. With the current rules in place helping to streamline the process, “it really is just relying on legislative committee leadership and the culture of the house to be able to keep itself focused,” Ayala Harris said. At the same time, the Joint Budget Committee this year has been developing a draft churchwide 2028-30 budget plan aligned with the strategic vision outlined by Rowe last week in a presentation to Executive Council, which is the church’s governing body between meetings of General Convention. The council voted in favor […]

[Anglican Taonga] Hawai‘i Bishop Robert Fitzpatrick named nine church leaders as honorary canons of the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Honolulu, O‘ahu, during an Oct. 18 installation service marking the Feast of St. Luke. Most of the honorary canons are from the Diocese of Hawai‘i, but two are from the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia; Jenny Te Paa-Daniel and Fe‘iloakitau Kaho Tevi. Polynesia Archbishop Sione Ulu‘ilakepa attended the service to support Fitzpatrick at one of his final services at the cathedral before retiring at the end of November. During the service, Fitzpatrick described Te Paa-Daniel and Kaho Tevi as special friends and as “kumu,” which means “teacher” in Hawaiian. He thanked them for introducing him to many people and for welcoming him in Oceania and Asia. “They’ve offered me a seat at the table that has been a gift,” Fitzpatrick said. Read the full article here.

[Episcopal News Service] As part of its yearslong effort in reckoning with its history of racism and role in upholding slavery, the Diocese of Southern Virginia has hosted a series of events throughout 2026 centered around reconciliation and repentance. The next event will take place at 10 a.m. Eastern on Nov. 2, All Souls Day, called “Lament. Repent. Reconcile. Heal.” The day will start with a morning worship service at Bruton Parish Church in Colonial Williamsburg honoring three enslaved Africans whose corporeal remains are permanently returning to Virginia after spending decades stored by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Following the livestreamed service, they will be interred nearby at the Utopia Quarter, a site for enslaved laborers located within the Kingsmill resort area, which was previously a plantation. Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe will preside, former Presiding Bishop Michael Curry will preach, and Southern Virginia Bishop Susan Haynes is leading and directing the service. The Rev. Jan Brown, a deacon of 10 years who served Bruton Parish for nearly nine years and has co-led the research of the ancestral remains and planning their repatriation, describes centering the service around the descendants as acts of being “mindful and respectful,” and giving their ancestors the “dignity and reverence they deserve,” she said. “There are people who say things like, ‘This was 400 years ago. Why don’t you let it go?’ First and foremost, these are humans, and they weren’t treated as humans by the church when they were alive. We have never named that sin properly and lamented our responsibility for having done so,” Brown, who is scheduled to be ordained a priest on Oct. 30, told Episcopal News Service. “The truth has not been told before, and it’s being told now, and we’re reckoning with it.  “We always say we want to repent, but you can’t repent if you haven’t lamented first. So, this is our season of lament.” Brown is the founder and executive director of SpiritWorks Foundation Center for the Soul. With diocesan support, the nonprofit created The Long Way Home: A Season of Reckoning, a 49-day season of formation, lament and repair that launched Sept. 14, Holy Cross Day, and culminates with the All Souls Day service. The diocesan observance “takes its name from the long, often invisible road that leads a community back to the truth of its own history and from the ancestors themselves, whose long way home is only now, after centuries, ending.” Clergy and lay Episcopalians throughout the diocese observed the season. Many of the descendants still live in the Williamsburg area, though others live elsewhere. Loretta Burwell, for example, lives in Atlanta, Georgia. A descendant of the Burwell family, she is a lay Episcopal elder who has been involved with archival research and repatriation efforts. “[Burwell’s] been very faithful, and she has told us that she considers this work her gift to her ancestors,” Brown said. The service’s liturgy will acknowledge the injustices many generations of Africans suffered while enslaved in Williamsburg from its founding in 1632 until slavery formally ended in 1865, when the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It will also acknowledge slavery’s enduring legacy in the form of systemic injustices. The service will include readings from Scripture, music, prayer and reflection. Southern Virginia’s racial reconciliation journey is more than a decade in the making. In 2010, the Newport News-based diocese passed a resolution that created the Repairers of the Breach Task Force. The task force was named in reference to the promise of restoration and renewal depicted in Isaiah 58:12: “Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.” The task force regularly hosts racial healing workshops and other educational events that foster empathy and encourage Episcopalians to engage in racial and ethnic justice work in and out of church. Its website offers educational and liturgical resources for congregations and church leaders. In 2013, former Southern Virginia Bishop Herman Hollerith IV formally apologized for the diocese’s role in slavery and segregation in a service of repentance, reconciliation and healing. Haynes described the years-long work as “a really big deal,” especially when recognizing the harming of different groups of people “is not a very popular thing to do” outside of church. “It’s not just one diocese attempting to repair the relationship, but it’s the whole people, and it’s the whole church that is trying to stand against harming other groups of people,” Haynes told ENS in a phone interview. “This day of reckoning, at least for myself, is an act of love for my country, because I want my country to be whole and well and healthy. But in order to be whole and well and healthy, we’ve got to acknowledge past wrongdoings first.” The diocesan service comes as Colonial Williamsburg prepares to celebrate its centennial Nov. 14 and 16 as a living-history museum. Much of the museum’s own racial reconciliation work has included uncovering, restoring and centering the stories of the enslaved and free Black people who made up approximately half of Williamsburg’s population in the 18th century. The diocese’s reconciliation journey also included several years of archival research and working closely with the Let Freedom Ring Foundation, a Williamsburg-based nonprofit dedicated to preserving and protecting the site and artifacts of the First Baptist Church of Williamsburg, one of the oldest active congregations, founded in 1776, the birth year of the United States, by enslaved and free Black Americans. The researchers learned that additional 38 unknown enslaved Africans whose skeletal remains, at some point, were excavated from the nearby Pettus Plantation burial site and remain with the Smithsonian Institution. The names of their enslavers are known, though, because their names appear on the pews at Bruton Parish Church. The collaborators are working on repatriating their remains so they can be “properly” buried in Virginia, Brown said. […]

  [Episcopal News Service] Four Episcopal dioceses – Great Lakes, Kansas, New Hampshire and Tennessee – held bishop elections on Oct. 24 during their diocesan conventions. These four dioceses are among the 19 currently undergoing leadership transitions. The Grand Rapids-based Diocese of the Great Lakes, which formed in 2024 following the juncture of the dioceses of Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan, elected the Rev. Zachary “Zack” Nyein as its first bishop diocesan on the second ballot. Nyein, who serves as senior associate rector and pastor of Imagine Worship at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in New York, New York, is scheduled to be ordained and consecrated on May 8, 2027. “It is a rare and unique privilege to serve as the first bishop of a new diocese, and I am extraordinarily honored to accept the call,” Nyein said in the diocese’s election announcement. “The Holy Spirit is at work in the Great Lakes, and I look forward to our years of ministry together.” As bishop of the Diocese of the Great Lakes, Nyein will lead 98 congregations, including four seasonal chapels, across 58 counties in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. Bishop Anne Hodges-Copple has been serving the diocese as an assisting bishop since 2025. The Rev. Whitney Rice, the Diocese of Missouri’s canon to the ordinary, was elected the 11th bishop of the Diocese of Kansas on the first ballot. Her ordination and consecration are scheduled for April 17, 2027, at Grace Episcopal Cathedral in Topeka. The diocese’s former bishop, the Rt. Rev. Cathleen Bascom, resigned on Jan. 31 to serve as a consultant to The Episcopal Church to help create eco-region networks in the United States and Province IX. On the second ballot, the Concord-based Diocese of New Hampshire elected the Rev. Ed Cardoza to be its 11th bishop, succeeding Bishop Robert Hirschfeld. Cardoza’s ordination and consecration are scheduled for March 6, 2027, at Rollins Chapel in Hanover.  Cardoza, who currently serves as priest-in-charge of Grace Episcopal Church in Manchester, New Hampshire, will lead some 10,000 Episcopalians in 46 congregations and eight seasonal chapels statewide.  “To be called to this ministry is a sacred privilege that I accept with a humbled heart, deeply aware of both the immense responsibility and the extraordinary work that lies ahead,” he said in the diocese’s bishop election announcement. “I look forward to ministering across our diocese, united in one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” The Rev. Colin Moore Ambrose, vice rector of St. George’s Episcopal Church in Nashville, Tennessee, was elected the 12th bishop of the Diocese of Tennessee on the third ballot. Upon his ordination and consecration, which are scheduled for April 10, he will succeed the current Tennessee Bishop John C. Bauerschmidt, who has led the diocese since 2007. “I look forward to sharing this life with all of you, being with you in your congregations, worshiping with you, praying with you, serving with you and discerning together what God is making possible among us,” Ambrose said in the diocese’s bishop election announcement. Last month, the Diocese of Florida elected the Rev. J. Randolph Alexander Jr. as its ninth bishop, nearly three years after its previous bishop, the Rt. Rev. John Howard, retired. In August, the dioceses of Northwestern Pennsylvania and Lexington also held bishop elections. -Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at [email protected].

[Anglican Communion News Service] Members of the Compass Rose Society met Oct. 21-22 at One Whitehall Place in London for the annual general meeting. The society has supported the Anglican Communion Office since 1994. Pennsylvania Bishop Daniel Gutiérrez, president of the Compass Rose Society, hosted the event. During the meeting, attendees spent time praying together and reviewing reports from the society’s board and chapter. They also listened to speakers from throughout the Anglican Communion provide updates on their work in person and virtually. The speakers included several Episcopal leaders, including the Rev. Chuck Robertson, senior adviser to Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe; the Rt. Rev. Mark Edington, bishop of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe; Atlanta Bishop Robert Wright; and the Rev. David Madison, executive director of the National Association of Episcopal Schools. Read the full article here.

[Diocese of Tennessee] The Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee elected the Rev. Colin Moore Ambrose as its 12th bishop on Oct. 24 at Christ Church Cathedral, Nashville. Ambrose was elected on the third ballot, receiving the required two-thirds in both clergy and lay orders on the same ballot. With 67 clergy votes and 105 lay votes cast, he received 48 clergy votes and 73 lay votes. Ambrose greeted the convention via an audio message minutes after his election was announced, saying, “I am overwhelmed, incredibly overwhelmed and humbled by this call, and I accept it with great joy.” When ordained and consecrated bishop on April 10, 2027, Ambrose will succeed the Rt. Rev. John C. Bauerschmidt, who is retiring after leading the diocese since 2006. “Bishop Bauerschmidt, thank you for your faithful leadership and for all you’ve given to this diocese. It will be an honor to follow you and to build on all that you have begun,” Ambrose said. A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Ambrose received his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Following college, he worked with Lehman Brothers in New York as a financial analyst and then spent five years as managing partner of a construction and remodeling company he co-founded in Chapel Hill. After discerning a call to ministry, he earned his Master of Divinity degree, cum laude, from Nashotah House Theological Seminary in 2009. He began his ministry in the Diocese of Tennessee at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where he served as priest associate and then interim priest before being called to St. George’s, Nashville, in 2019, where he currently serves as vice-rector and chief of staff. Ambrose is married to Trisha, and the Ambroses have three children. Reflecting on the future, Ambrose said, “This diocese is home. … I look forward to sharing this life with all of you, being with you in your congregations, worshiping with you, praying with you, serving with you and discerning together what God is making possible among us.” The other nominees were the Rev. Brian Cannaday, canon to the ordinary of the Diocese of Dallas, and the Rev. D. Andy Olivo, rector of St. Elizabeth’s Church, Ridgewood, New Jersey. The Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee encompasses 40 of the 41 counties in Middle Tennessee, serving 43 congregations and other mission outposts, comprising approximately 15,000 Episcopalians.

[Diocese of Kansas] The Rev. Whitney Rice, from the Diocese of Missouri, was elected Oct. 24 as the 11th bishop to lead the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas. Rice was elected on the first round of balloting during an election that took place in the worship space of Grace Cathedral in Topeka, receiving 61% of the lay delegate votes and 59% of the clergy votes. A majority of both clergy and lay votes in the same round was needed for election. Others on the ballot were the Rev. Grant Ambrose of the Diocese of the Susquehanna, the Rev. David Gortner of the Diocese of Spokane and the Rev. Lisa Senuta of the Diocese of Kansas. “I offer my heartfelt congratulations to our newly elected bishop, the Rev. Canon Whitney Rice,” said the Ven. Jim Cummins, president of the governing body that has overseen the diocese in the interim period between bishops. “I am grateful for the discernment, prayer and commitment of all who participated in this important process, and I look forward to the next chapter in the life of our diocese. “Although the selection process extended several months longer than anticipated, that additional time has brought us to this wonderful moment. The result is a truly outstanding bishop-elect, and I am confident that the gifts, faith, and leadership they bring will serve our diocese well. … May we now move forward together with renewed energy and a shared commitment to Christ’s mission, as we welcome our new bishop and embrace the opportunities that lie ahead.” Rice has been serving in the Diocese of Missouri for the past six years, as canon to the ordinary since 2026, and as canon for evangelism and discipleship development since 2020. She attended the University of Kansas and graduated in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in religious studies and English. When the four candidates toured the diocese during the Meet and Greets, she emphasized how important the diocese’s Canterbury ministry was to her Christian formation and discerning her call to the priesthood. She went on to seminary at Yale Divinity School, where she graduated in 2008. After graduating from seminary, she served parishes in Indiana and Missouri. Rice has also served as the evangelism faculty member at Bishop Kemper School for Ministry and created the Requiem or Renaissance program, an 18-month skills-building and discernment program for congregations seeking revitalization. When not engaged in ministry, she enjoys swing dancing. The service of ordination and consecration by which Rice becomes a bishop and assumes responsibility for the pastoral and administrative work of the diocese, will take place on April 17, 2026, in Grace Cathedral, Topeka. The chief consecrator will be Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe.

[Episcopal Church of New Hampshire] The Rev. Ed Cardoza was elected the 11th bishop of Episcopal Church of New Hampshire on Oct. 24. Cardoza will succeed retiring Bishop Robert Hirschfeld. Lay delegates and clergy elected Cardoza at the diocese’s annual convention in Concord from a slate of three nominees on the second ballot, receiving 55 votes from clergy order and 76 votes from lay representatives. “It is with profound joy that I accept the call to serve as the 11th bishop of the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire. To be called to this ministry is a sacred privilege that I accept with a humbled heart, deeply aware of both the immense responsibility and the extraordinary work that lies ahead,” Cardoza said. “I look forward to ministering across our diocese, united in one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Together as lay and ordained siblings, we will continue to center Jesus and boldly live into New Hampshire’s prophetic tradition – bringing the courageous love of the gospel to all of our neighbors.” The Episcopal Church of New Hampshire serves approximately 10,000 members in 46 congregations and eight seasonal chapels across the state. The diocese describes itself as geographically diverse, spiritually resilient and committed to community-based ministry. Cardoza currently serves as priest-in-charge of Grace Episcopal Church in Manchester, N.H. His previous ministry includes extensive lay and ordained leadership in greater Boston and the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. He also has experience in global health and outreach work in Haiti and Rwanda, and he served as vice president of development for Partners in Health. A Portuguese-American and native of East Boston, Mass., Cardoza’s faith was formed in Boston’s inner-city parishes. He holds a Master of Arts degree in ministry from Saint John’s Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts. He has also completed theological training as an auditor in Anglican Studies at the Episcopal Divinity School and as a Canterbury Scholar at Canterbury Cathedral. Cardoza’s ministry and formation work focused on liberation theology, young adult spiritual development and innovative approaches to property stewardship. He co-founded the Contemplative Action Network, an Episcopal-Lutheran collaboration addressing housing instability, recovery support and immigration support. Cardoza and his spouse, Albert, a retired carpenter, live in Peterborough, N.H. They share a strong interest in historic preservation and recently saved a historic home from demolition. “With the election of Rev. Ed, the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire can look forward to an exciting and rewarding mutual ministry,” said Margaret Porter, president of the Standing Committee. “I anticipate that the hopes and dreams expressed in our diocesan profile will help us discover together how we will serve God in these challenging yet promising times. Our diocese has greatly benefitted from the thorough work of our dedicated Search and Transition Committees, their chaplain and our consultant. We are also grateful to each of our nominees for joining us in the holy discernment that has resulted in this joyful outcome.” The other two nominees were the Rev. Kristofer Lindh-Payne and the Rev. Fran Gardner-Smith. Hirschfeld, who has served for 14 years, said he is looking forward to working with Cardoza over the next four months during the transition period. “I am confident that Rev. Ed will lead the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire into its next chapter of witness to God in Christ,” Hirschfeld said. “The Holy Spirit knows this diocese deeply and has clearly shown us God’s wisdom. It will be a joy to walk with Rev. Ed in the months ahead and share the many gifts of this remarkable diocese as he prepares for consecration as bishop. I have found serving God’s people here to be the honor and privilege of my life, and I believe Rev. Ed will, too.” The ordination and consecration of the 11th bishop of New Hampshire will take place March 6, 2027, at Rollins Chapel in Hanover, with the Most Rev. Sean Rowe, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, officiating.

[Diocese of the Great Lakes] The Episcopal Diocese of the Great Lakes on Oct. 24 elected the Rev. Zachary Nyein as its first bishop diocesan. Nyein currently serves as senior associate rector and pastor of Imagine Worship at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in New York City. Pending completion of the consent process, the bishop-elect will be ordained and consecrated bishop on the Feast of Julian of Norwich, May 8, 2027. “It is a rare and unique privilege to serve as the first bishop of a new diocese, and I am extraordinarily honored to accept the call,” Nyein said. “The Holy Spirit is at work in the Great Lakes, and I look forward to our years of ministry together.” Nyein was elected on the second ballot at the third annual convention of the diocese on Oct. 24. Election required a simple majority of votes in both the lay and clergy orders on the same ballot. On the second ballot, Nyein received 102 of 181 lay votes cast (56%) and 65 of 114 clergy votes cast (57%). The other nominees were the Rev. Terri Bays, missioner to the ordinary in the Diocese of Northern Indiana; the Rev. Nurya Love Parish, director for mission and community engagement in the Diocese of the Great Lakes; and the Rev. Holly Rankin Zaher, rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Evansville, Indiana. The Episcopal Diocese of the Great Lakes was formed in 2024 through the juncture of the legacy dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan. The young diocese comprises 98 congregations, including four seasonal chapels, and spans 58 counties across the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

[Episcopal News Service] The Rt. Rev. Calvin “Cal” Onderdonk Schofield Jr., who served the Diocese of Southeast Florida as bishop for 20 years, died on Oct. 5 in Denver, Colorado. He was 93. Schofield Jr. “was known for his remarkable sense of humor and his strong, warm pastoral leadership,” St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Boca Raton, Florida, posted on its website. Schofield Jr. was born Jan. 6, 1933, in Delhi, New York. He was a member of the Onderdonk family, which produced two Episcopal bishops in the 19th century: the Rt. Rev. Henry Ustick Onderdonk, the second bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, and the Rt. Rev. Benjamin Treadwell Onderdonk, the fourth bishop of the Diocese of New York. Schofield Jr. earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hobart College in 1959 and a Master of Divinity degree from Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University in 1962, and he was ordained later that year. Schofield Jr. served as curate of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in St. Petersburg. Florida – now the Cathedral Church of St. Peter and the seat of the Diocese of Southwest Florida – from 1962-1964. He also served vicar of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Miami from 1964-1979. He additionally served as chaplain of Florida Presbyterian College, now known as Eckerd College, in St. Petersburg, and as a chaplain of the U.S. Navy Reserve. In November 1978, Schofield Jr. was elected bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of Southeast Florida. He was consecrated on March 23, 1979, and became the diocese’s second bishop on Jan. 1, 1980, succeeding Bishop James L. Duncan. Under Schofield Jr.’s episcopacy, Southeast Florida became the first Episcopal diocese to establish a mission for Hispanic ministry and the church’s first Spanish-language Cursillo program. He also ordained the diocese’s first woman priest, the Rev. Winnie Bolle. Schofield Jr. additionally served on Executive Council, The Episcopal Church’s Standing Commission on Human Affairs and Health, and the board of General Theological Seminary. In 1997, he also served as co-chair of the election committee of The Episcopal Church’s 25th presiding bishop, the Most Rev. Frank Griswold. Schofield Jr. retired in 2000 and was succeeded by Bishop Leopold Frade. Schofield Jr. assisted the diocese after retirement until he moved to Colorado. He is survived by his wife, Elaine Schofield, two children and grandchildren. Schofield Jr.’s funeral is scheduled for Nov. 7 at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Centennial, Colorado. “Please keep the bishop, his wife Elaine and their family in your prayers,” the Diocese of Southeast Florida said in an Oct. 5 announcement.

[Anglican Communion News Service] With King Charles III’s approval, Pope Leo XIV is now Papal Confrater of the College of St. George at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. This act of confraternity represents a visible sign of spiritual fellowship, ecumenical friendship and Christian fraternity. It recognizes both the centuries-old relationship between the College and Chapel of St. George, Windsor, and the Holy See, and the progress in relations between the Church of England, the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church. It also reflects the deep mutual esteem between the king and the pope and their shared desire for Christian unity. Read the full article here.

[Episcopal News Service – Stevens Point, Wisconsin] Barb Bowers and Sue Sachs are both longtime residents of this college town in the center of the state. And both are active in their church, Beloved Community, on the east end of Stevens Point. On a recent Sunday morning before the congregation’s 8:15 a.m. service, both were in the church’s kitchen area assembling finger food for post-worship coffee hour. What may set the two women apart are their denominational roots — Bowers comes from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, while Sachs is Episcopalian — yet they and their congregation now blend both traditions. The former Redeemer Lutheran Church and the former Intercession Episcopal Church joined in October 2024 to become one Beloved Community. The congregation is officially Episcopal and Lutheran, part of both the Episcopal Diocese of Wisconsin and the ELCA’s East Central Synod of Wisconsin. As Sachs removed grapes from stems and placed them in a bowl, she recalled the financial challenges at Intercession Episcopal Church that prompted the two congregations’ initial partnership. “We could not afford to maintain our church,” Sachs told Episcopal News Service, and at that time, in 2017, Redeemer Lutheran Church was looking for a new pastor. “Redeemer needed some help, and we needed some help,” Sachs said. Intercession’s rector, the Rev. Jane Johnson, agreed to serve both congregations, and Redeemer invited Intercession to worship in Redeemer’s building. Combining their congregations was possible because of The Episcopal Church’s 26-year-old full communion relationship with the ELCA, in which congregations from the two denominations are able to share clergy and worship together. Beloved Community also is one of a growing number of blended congregations, sometimes referred to as “Lutherpalian,” that are finding ways to survive and even thrive by drawing on both churches’ traditions. “I was comfortable with pews and kneeling and all of that good stuff,” Sachs said of her past experience attending Episcopal services. Beloved Community now offers an early service that is mostly based in The Episcopal Church’s Book of Common Prayer Rite II for Holy Eucharist, followed by a late-morning service that is more Lutheran and more contemporary. Total Sunday attendance averages about 80 a week. The initial transition was “very difficult” for Sachs, but “I’ve totally settled in now,” she said. She has made friends with members of the former Redeemer congregation. There is no precise record of all the Episcopal and Lutheran congregations engaged in various levels of collaboration under full communion, though the number of combined congregations is a more defined and much smaller subset. The most recent list maintained by the ELCA on cooperative agreements, as of 2025, counts 16 “federated” Lutheran-Episcopal congregations and eight “union” Lutheran-Episcopal congregations. Federated is defined as two congregations that remain separate entities but function as one church for worship and to conduct other activities together, while union congregations are single entities and members of both denominations. The breadth of these joint congregations likely is not fully represented even by the ELCA’s 2025 list. Beloved Community, for example, is not yet listed there. The number, however, appears to be growing — up from 14 federated and union Lutheran-Episcopal congregations listed in 2017. Episcopal News Service spoke with the leaders of other merged congregations. They said the decisions to combine often were rooted in practical concerns about both congregations’ viability, and now they happily identify as both Episcopal and Lutheran. “We’re coming to a point where we can do so much more together than we can separately, and I think we’re better when we can learn from each other,” the Rev. Joyce Partyka Staib told ENS. Staib is the pastor of Spirit of Grace Church in the Detroit suburb of West Bloomfield, Michigan. Like Beloved Community in Wisconsin, Spirit of Grace Church has a foot in both denominations, as a member of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan and the ELCA’s Southeast Michigan Synod. Spirit of Grace was created about a decade ago when an Episcopal congregation needed a new worship space and arranged to share the facilities of a Lutheran congregation. After initially worshipping separately at different times on Sundays, the two decided to try worshipping together. They discovered they enjoyed the joint services, and “at the end of the summer, they didn’t want to separate,” said Staib, who was ordained in the ELCA and has led the combined congregation for the past three years. Spirit of Grace is listed as a federated congregation and makes decisions as one body. “I am their first jointly called pastor,” Staib said. There are some differences in the polity and governance of the two denominations, but their theologies are quite similar, she said. Spirit of Grace worships at one Sunday service that combines the two traditions. “In my experience, it’s really not difficult to do that because they’re really not that different from each other,” Staib said. Other joint Episcopal-Lutheran congregations still try to offer members elements familiar from both traditions. One example is the Church of the Nativity and Holy Comforter in Baltimore, Maryland, which describes itself as “an Episcopal-Lutheran community.” The Episcopal Church of the Nativity and Lutheran Church of the Holy Comforter became a federated congregation of both denominations in 2018, and since then, they have worshiped as one. The 8 a.m. Sunday service mostly follows The Episcopal Church Book of Common Prayer’s Rite I for Holy Eucharist “with a few Lutheran embellishments,” the Rev. Annette Chappelle told ENS. The 10:30 a.m. service is larger and follows a liturgy that is about half Episcopal and half Lutheran. Blended liturgies are just right for this blended congregation. “I think many of the people in the congregation by now pretty much regard themselves as ‘Lutherpalians,’” Chappelle said. Diverse Christians unite in new spiritual homes, ‘wild’ and ‘beautiful’ Sachs and Bowers credit Johnson for her leadership in bringing the two congregations in Stevens Point together as Beloved Community. “She has done an amazing job,” Sachs said. For a merger like this […]