Episcopal News Service

[Episcopal News Service] Wisconsin Bishop Matthew Gunther issued a call for the election of his successor on July 29, saying he intends to retire in 2028 when the new bishop is consecrated. Gunter was first consecrated bishop of the former Diocese of Fond du Lac and became the bishop of Wisconsin in 2022 when Fond du Lac reunited and merged with the dioceses of Milwaukee and Eau Claire to form a single statewide diocese. The original Diocese of Wisconsin was created in 1847, a year before Wisconsin became a state, and was first led by Bishop Jackson Kemper. “I love the Diocese of Wisconsin. I love being your bishop. I have known and served with many of you for many years. I have just started to get to know some of you,” Gunter said in a written message to the diocese. “I am excited about what we have accomplished since the reunification. I am excited about the possibilities for the future. I cannot imagine a better diocese in which to serve. And yet, I believe it is time to move toward calling a new bishop to help guide the diocese into the next chapter.” Gunter noted that next year he will turn 70, two years shy of The Episcopal Church’s mandatory retirement age for clergy. “It is also a good time because the Diocese of Wisconsin has made a good beginning and is on a firm footing,” he said. “We have an excellent, faithful, and dedicated staff. We are blessed with truly fine clergy and wonderful lay leadership. There is growth of membership and vitality around the diocese. Our finances are good. I look forward to continuing my part in the good work begun for the next 18–24 months.” The standing committee also released a letter acknowledging Gunter’s coming retirement. “We give thanks for his steadfast example of grace and service,” the standing committee said. “Bishop Matt has faithfully offered himself to the work of the church as a pastor, wise counselor and discerning leader. The standing committee is deeply grateful for his compassionate witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we look forward to celebrating his ministry as he enters this new season. “

[Episcopal News Service] An Episcopal church in Menasha, Wisconsin, is offering food, parking and comfort to neighboring residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed by a tornado that touched down there on July 27. St. Thomas Church was not in the path of the tornado but is located near some of the neighborhoods devastated by the storm. Meteorologists later confirmed that an EF-3 tornado had touched down in Wisconsin’s Fox Vally region on the northern end of Lake Winnebago. No fatalities have been reported. “Please know that your church family is here for you,” St. Thomas said in an initial social media post on the evening of the tornado. “If you need assistance, a pastoral visit, prayers, or someone to talk to, we encourage you to reach out.” Since then, the church has opened its parking lot to residents who need a place to park their cars while they walk to inspect their damaged homes. On July 28, the congregation served about 300 storm-weary residents a hot lunch of grilled hot dogs and burgers, as well as about 200 bratwursts donated by an organization called Operation BBQ Relief. Afterward, the Rev. Andy Cruz Lillegard, St. Thomas’ rector, said he and others from the church went on foot to bring additional food and supplies to residents affected by the disaster. “A bunch of us grabbed wagons … simply walked our way in,” Lillegard told Episcopal News Service through a cellphone scratching from patchy reception. The tornado touched down around noon July 27 in Appleton, reportedly tearing roofs off businesses, and then moved south into Menasha, where it downed trees and caused widespread damage to homes and businesses. It eventually moved over Lake Winnebago before dissipating. Images from the tornado’s path show upended vehicles, homes in ruins, scattered debris, tangled power lines and mangled trees. St. Thomas, like much of that part of Menasha, was still without power on July 29, and the city has advised residents to boil water until it can ensure the municipal water is safe to drink again. Some St. Thomas parishioners were among those who lost homes in the storm. Others, including “friends of friends,” are helping the church distribute emergency food and supplies, such as diapers, personal hygiene products, cleaning supplies, flashlights, batteries and bottled water. “It’s still chaos,” Lillegard said. “But what we’ve noticed is people pitching in to help one another.” – 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] In one of the largest dioceses of the Church of South India, climate justice begins in a vegetable garden. Across Kerala, many farmers have walked away from the land, convinced a shifting climate has made cultivation too risky. Madhya Kerala Bishop Malayil Sabu Koshy Cherian hasn’t given up on it. Every morning, two hours before he begins his daily ecclesial duties, Cherian works as a farm worker – watering, checking irrigation lines, harvesting and turning soil. For him, farming isn’t a hobby, but discipleship. “The land belongs to God,” Cherian said. “God has entrusted it to human beings to cultivate for the sustenance of life. If we neglect the land that God has given us, it is not merely wastefulness; it is sin.” Read the entire article here.

[Episcopal News Service] President Donald Trump paid tribute to the late South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham on July 28 at a funeral service held at Washington National Cathedral. A long list of other conservative leaders and global dignitaries, from Fox News host Sean Hannity to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, joined in honoring Graham, who died July 11 at 71. “Today, we gather in the deepest gratitude and profoundest sorrow to honor a beloved friend, a devoted brother, a respected statesman, a giant of the United States Senate, a true American original who left us much too soon,” Trump said. “And that can only be the one and only Lindsey Graham.” The Episcopal cathedral in Washington, D.C., has a long tradition of hosting funerals for U.S. presidents and other prominent political figures as part of its founding vision, authorized by congressional charter in 1893, as “a sacred home for all Americans in the nation’s capital.” Past presidential funerals have included services for Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush and, most recently, Jimmy Carter in January 2025. Other American leaders honored with funerals at Washington National Cathedral in recent years have included Secretary of State Colin Powell, Secretary of State Madeline Albright, Arizona Sen. John McCain and, in November 2025, Vice President Dick Cheney. Graham was a Southern Baptist who never married and had no children. He had served his native South Carolina in the Senate since 2003 and previously served in the House of Representatives. At the time of his death from an aortic tear caused by cardiovascular disease he had just returned from a trip to Ukraine in support of Ukraine’s military efforts against Russia. “We bid farewell to a man much beloved by many,” the Very Rev. Randy Hollerith, Washington National Cathedral’s dean, said in brief welcoming remarks. “Lindsey Graham was a man of faith, a longtime public servant who devoted his life to his country and to his cherished South Carolina. “His untimely death leaves a void in both places, and we gather this afternoon to honor his life and commend his soul to God in firm and abiding faith that he now rests in the life hereafter.” The service leaflet is available here, and video of the service can be viewed on the cathedral’s YouTube channel. Other eulogies were given by Hannity and Emillie Boggs Roberts, Graham’s niece. Passages from Scripture were read by Tony Perkins, president of the conservative policy organization Family Research Council; Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, and Franklin Graham, president of the evangelical relief organization Samaritan’s Purse. Others reported to be in attendance included Vice President JD Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, former Vice President Mike Pence and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump, in his tribute, called Graham a “fixture of American politics at the highest level and a force to be reckoned with all over the world.” “He was a man who gave America the full measure of his good and mighty heart until that heart itself just gave out,” Trump said. “There can be no doubt that he lived absolutely to the fullest. He died doing the work he was born to do. He was truly a great politician serving the country he loved to serve so deeply.” Earlier in the day, Graham was honored in a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. A funeral service in South Carolina is planned July 29 at First Baptist Church of Columbia, followed by a private burial. – David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at [email protected].

[Episcopal News Service] The Rt. Rev. Jerry Albam Lamb, who served the Diocese of Northern California as bishop for 14 years, died on July 26 at his residence in Southern California. He was 85. In announcing his death in an email, the diocese said of Lamb, “We offer prayers of gratitude for his long life of faithful service. Please keep his family and friends in your prayers.” Lamb was born on Sept. 4, 1940, in Denver, Colorado. He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 1964 and a master’s degree in theology in 1966 from St. Thomas Seminary, a now-defunct Vincentian institution. He served as a Roman Catholic priest until 1971. In 1973, he earned a second master’s degree in counseling from the University of Oregon in Eugene. Lamb joined The Episcopal Church in 1977 and was ordained a priest in that same year in the Diocese of Oregon. He was elected and ordained bishop coadjutor of the Sacramento-based Diocese of Northern California in 1991, succeeding Bishop John Lester Thompson. Lamb became the sixth diocesan bishop in 1992. He retired in 2006 when his successor, the Rt. Rev. Barry L. Beisner, became the diocese’s seventh bishop. Lamb then served as assisting bishop of the Diocese of Nevada after Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori stepped down to serve as The Episcopal Church’s presiding bishop. In 2008, Lamb was appointed provisional bishop of the Diocese of San Joaquin in central California after former Bishop John David Schofield led many congregations out of The Episcopal Church. Under Lamb’s leadership, as well as that of his successors, Bishop Chester “Chet” Talton and Bishop David Rice, those who remained in the diocese re-engaged with the wider church. The cause of death hasn’t been provided, but Lamb had experienced various health issues in recent years. While attending a House of Bishops meeting in 2012 at the 77th General Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, he was hospitalized after suffering from two “small strokes.” Lamb was preceded in death by his wife, Jane Mary Onstad Lamb, who died in 2023. He is survived by his daughter, Katherine “Kate” Lamb. “[Jerry Lamb] meant a great deal to so many of us and his impact on the world is unmeasurable,” Kate Lamb said in a July 27 Instagram post. “To me, he was my dad who loved me, challenged me and believed in me. I will miss him forever and give thanks for his lifetime of service to others.” Funeral services will be held for Lamb at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Sacramento and in Upland, California. The dates have not been announced.

[Episcopal News Service] Arizona Bishop Jennifer Reddall, during a parish visit July 26, threw her support behind a political advocacy campaign that might have seemed redundant or unnecessary just a few years ago. “Every marriage is important, and we are working to ensure that same-sex marriage continues to be legal,” Reddall said in a social media post in advance of her visit to Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Phoenix. Outside the cathedral after its worship service, she signed the Respect for Marriage pledge, a campaign organized by ONE Community and Equality Arizona to generate support for an effort to repeal an anti-LGBTQ+ provision in the state’s constitution. Same-sex couples have been able to marry in Episcopal churches since 2015, the same year that the U.S. Supreme Court, in Obergefell v. Hodges, ruled that marriage equality was the law of the land in all 50 states, including Arizona, where a lower court ruling had legalized same-sex marriage in 2014. Since then, The Episcopal Church has taken additional steps to ensure same-sex couples have access to the church’s marriage rites in all U.S. dioceses. Supporters of civil law marriage protections, however, have raised concerns that the Supreme Court, now with a conservative supermajority under President Donald Trump, could reverse its 2015 ruling and allow states again to discriminate against same-sex couples. That alarm has grown louder since the court in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed individual states to outlaw abortion. Justice Clarence Thomas, in a supporting opinion, suggested his fellow justices should go further and “reconsider all of this court’s substantive due process precedents,” including Obergefell v. Hodges. Arizona is one of about two dozen states that still have same-sex marriage prohibitions in their state constitutions or statutes. Those prohibitions, which were invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell ruling, could take effect again if the court were to end marriage protections under the U.S. Constitution. ONE Community and Equality Arizona launched their Respect for Marriage Arizona campaign in February to raise awareness of the threat and rally support for a future ballot initiative that would remove the language from the Arizona constitution that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. “This educational campaign is about helping Arizonans understand the inalienable rights that come with legal marriage and the urgent need for action to protect the rights of all families in these uncertain times,” Michael Soto, CEO of Equality Arizona, said in the news release announcing the campaign. The states with constitutional bans on same-sex marriage range from deeply conservative Mississippi and Montana to liberal strongholds like Oregon. If Obergefell were overturned, the Democratic majority in a state like Oregon would be expected to act to ensure same-sex couples were still protected, according to an Axios analysis. California was another blue state that previously had a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, but voters in 2024 passed a ballot measure that removed that ban. Arizona leans Republican in voter registration, though it also is known as a swing state in national elections. The state chose Donald Trump in 2016, Joe Biden in 2020 and Trump again in 2024. Arizona has a Democratic governor, though its legislature has been controlled by Republicans for decades. In 2008, voters backed a measure to add a ban on same-sex marriage to Arizona’s state constitution. It now reads, “Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state.” The ban was struck down in 2014 by a U.S. District Court judge, which legalized same-sex marriage in the state. That ruling, however, could be nullified if the U.S. Supreme Court were to eliminate federal protections on marriage equality. Polls show a shift among Arizona voters and all Americans in favor of same-sex marriage. Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ rights advocacy group, released a poll in 2022 showing 69% of Arizonans in favor of marriage equality.  Nationally, about 65% of Americans said they favored legal same-sex marriage in May 2026, according to a Gallup poll, though that support was down from its peak of 71% in 2022. On July 26, Reddall offered a physical demonstration of her diocese’s support for ensuring that all Arizonans retain the right to marry. Outside Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, surrounded by supporters holding red and blue Respect for Marriage Arizona signs, Reddall knelt before a large pledge board and signed her name to the bottom. “Proud to be signing the pledge to help keep all marriages legal with the good people of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral,” Reddall said in a social media post after the event. The campaign is collecting signatures from individual Arizonans across the state, including through its website. The campaign also is specifically soliciting support from faith organizations to join in signing the pledge. Organizers say the campaign is currently “educational,” in the hopes that public pressure will persuade the state Legislature to act on a constitutional amendment in time to get the measure on the ballot in the November 2028 election. – David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at [email protected].

[Anglican Communion News Service] Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally began her 10-day visit to the Church of the Province of West Africa on July 26. She preached at a church service at St. Joseph the Worker Anglican Church in Accra, Ghana, which was led entirely by female clergy in honor of her visit. A brass band and local school children welcomed the archbishop to the three-hour service. She thanked the congregation for their hospitality and welcome. Mullally’s sermon focused on God’s unwavering love and support. Read the entire article here.

[Religion News Service] A group of religious leaders gathered July 22 at the Texas State Capitol to condemn recent immigration enforcement-related deaths in Texas, Maine and Florida and to demand that federal immigration agents end what one pastor called a “terror campaign” against migrants. “We grieve every death, every act of violence and every enforcement practice that unnecessarily endangers human life or diminishes the God-given dignity of our immigrant neighbors,” said Bishop Sue Briner of the Southwestern Texas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. “When fear begins to shape the daily lives of our neighbors, it is time for the church to show up.” The news conference inside the capitol brought together about two dozen leaders from the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, the South Central Conference of the United Church of Christ, the National Council of Jewish Women and other faith-related groups. Texas Impact, an interfaith grassroots advocacy network, organized the event in response to the July 7 fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during a traffic stop by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Houston. The religious leaders condemned deportations, detention centers and enforcement-related deaths involving ICE amid the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts. Federal agents who determine that their actions have been immoral should “resign and find other work,” said the Rev. Jim Harrington of St. James’ Episcopal Church in Austin, where he works with immigrants, and who is also a lawyer who founded the Texas Civil Rights Project. “Following orders is never a justification in the Christian tradition — nor in international law — to perpetuate evil,” Harrington said. Read the full story here.

[Anglican Communion News Service] Indigenous Anglicans from four provinces of the Anglican Communion, including The Episcopal Church, have issued a joint statement of support for the Episcopal Church in Navajoland, after the missionary diocese’s postponement of the election of its first bishop diocesan. The postponement was announced on 11 June. The statement is signed by the Most Rev. Don Tamihere, archbishop and primate of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia; the Most Rev. Marinez Rosa dos Santos Bassotto, archbishop and primate of the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil and bishop of Amazonia; the Most Rev. Chris Harper, national Indigenous Anglican archbishop and presiding elder of Sacred Circle in the Anglican Church of Canada; and the Rt. Rev. Daniel Gutiérrez, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. The signatories write that they have followed Navajoland’s journey towards self-determination with “prayer, aroha and thanksgiving” and that they walk with their Diné family “not as distant observers, but as relatives” bound “by faith, by kinship and by a shared history of colonization.” They share “the surprise and disappointment expressed by many at the postponement, for a second time, of the election of Navajoland’s first bishop diocesan. We know this must have been a deeply sacrificial and difficult decision.” Read the full story here. More on the Navajoland leadership transition can be found here.

[Episcopal News Service] Dancing is mentioned dozens of times in the Bible, often as a means of worship and praising God. That’s especially the case for the Rev. Julie Hoplamazian, a former ballet instructor who now serves as associate rector of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in New York, New York. Her passion for ballet and serving God inspired her to establish Faith on Pointe, a virtual beginner-friendly class that teaches topics on faith and spirituality using ballet techniques. “As Christians, our theology really undergirds the importance of our bodies as epistemological instruments, especially knowing that God is a creator, and we are creative beings and creative movement is part of our divine imprint,” Hoplamazian, who began studying ballet when she was 3 years old, told Episcopal News Service. “Unborn babies kick in the womb, and toddlers instinctively jump up and down or wave their arms when they get excited. Basically, we are meant to move. It’s how we were created by God.” Before she founded Faith on Pointe in 2020, shortly after COVID-19 lockdowns began, Hoplamazian taught community ballet classes in person at St. Michael’s. She’d also preached a sermon series called “Raising the Barre: Faith Lessons from the Ballet Studio.” Outside of Faith on Pointe, Hoplamazian runs workshops on faith and ballet, including recently at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in New York. Drop-in Faith on Pointe classes are held Tuesday evenings and Friday afternoons via Zoom and are open to people of all faith backgrounds. Ballet slippers, leotards, tights and tutus aren’t required. The class is primarily barre work – using a chair or table at home as a stationary handrail for exercises – and some center work with no handrail support. The Zoom opens 10 minutes early for check-in and socializing. Hoplamazian also occasionally runs a more in-depth six-week, 90-minute course called “The Prayerful Plié: Spiritual Direction through Ballet.” The program is open to everybody and “every body.” Hoplamazian adapts ballet techniques for anyone who needs physical accommodations. Today, students drop in once or twice a week from throughout the United States, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Each month focuses on a different theme, such as grace and peace. Hoplamazian offers reflections, reads Scripture and plays music pertaining to the month’s theme. On days Hoplamazian isn’t able to teach, the Rev. Jocelynn Hughes, a supply Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Northern California, will substitute. Hughes taught classes when she was an apprentice at the Sacramento Ballet, before she went to seminary. When she’s not subbing for Hoplamazian, Hughes joins as a student for both sessions. “I think one of the upsides to the way we’re doing this class is people can go at their own pace, so everyone has a chance to come at it in a different, spiritual way,” Hughes told ENS. “There’s no judgment or expectation, which is really countercultural in the ballet world because it’s very regimented with lots of expectations for dress and how you comport yourself. Taking that aspect of the ballet world off is, at least for me, really liberating.” Attending these one-hour lessons gives Sr. Sarah Margaret, an Episcopal nun who serves as director of associates for the Society of St. Margaret in Duxbury, Massachusetts, new perspectives on these topics. “Every week, Faith on Pointe sends me off with something new to consider – something more to pray about,” Margaret told ENS. “The world’s been dealing with so many unfortunate situations over the last few years. Julie’s helped us focus our praying through some of it by pulling in some music that’s not typically used for ballet, but we can still dance to, and other ways, too.” Margaret and several other students have been a part of the Tuesday evening group since its inception. The timing of Faith on Pointe’s establishment was “perfect” for the Rev. Eliza Tweedy, a United Church of Christ pastor who leads the Congregational Church of Laconia in Laconia, New Hampshire, and the virtual Living Mosaic Church for LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent people. Tweedy, who like Hoplamazian, Hughes and Margaret, also took ballet lessons as a child, was looking for a way to stay in shape and be part of faith-based communities while in quarantine. “Much of modern Western Christianity, especially mainline Protestant Christianity, we aren’t very good at considering faith as an embodied practice,” Tweedy told ENS. “If we call ourselves the body of Christ, then we can’t think that faith is just something we have in our heads. …And that’s what’s great about Faith on Pointe. You don’t need to have the stereotypical ballerina body to benefit from it physically or spiritually.” Over the last six years, Faith on Pointe has given the students and Hoplamazian an extra benefit: lifelong friendships. Several of them have met in person outside of class, including Margaret and Tweedy, who connected last year outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Hoplamazian and Hughes met for the first time last week in Sacramento. These friendships are not just rooted in faith and ballet, but a shared love for Hoplamazian. When Hoplamazian was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago, the students secretly collaborated to help make errands easier for her. They collected DoorDash gift cards to pay for meal and grocery deliveries. Students living in Manhattan and St. Michael’s parishioners volunteered to accompany Hoplamazian to her medical appointments. Tweedy handknit Hoplamazian a “knitted knocker,” a soft prosthetic for people who’ve had a mastectomy or lumpectomy. The biggest surprise for Hoplamazian, though, was a custom handmade quilt depicting her “favorite things,” including The Episcopal Church’s shield, animals, music notes and, of course, ballet and the Faith on Pointe logo. Students mailed fabric squares to Margaret, who sewed and stitched quotes from Scripture into the quilt. Hoplamazian received the quilt after finishing chemotherapy. Hoplamazian described her gift as “the most thoughtful, beautiful quilt I’ve ever seen.” “It’s the most incredible gift I’ve ever received in my life. It captures everything about me. I cried […]

[Episcopal News Service] The impact of severe flooding last week in the central Texas counties known as the Hill Country is still being felt by residents. Since then, Episcopal congregations have joined community efforts to respond to pressing needs there — one year after the region was hit by an earlier round of deadly and destructive river flooding. “Our congregations are mobilizing to respond to the variety of needs in their communities, in coordination with other local churches and agencies,” West Texas Bishop David Read said in a July 21 online update to his San Antonio-based diocese. “We have also been in contact with Episcopal Relief & Development, which has approved an initial grant to help meet immediate needs, which vary from place to place.” He singled out St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Uvalde and St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Kerrville for their flood relief efforts. St. Peter’s also was at the center of efforts in Kerr County to respond to the extreme flooding that occurred in July 2025. “One of the great lessons our diocese learned following the July 4 flood last year is the power of our prayers and the strength we have when we come together as the Body of Christ in West Texas,” Read said. “It is time to once again join our hands together in prayer, support and love for one another across West Texas.” Last week’s storm and flooding killed two people, displaced hundreds more and caused widespread damage across the state’s midsection. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed an emergency declaration on July 17 affecting 28 counties. Some of the worst flooding occurred along the Nueces and Leona rivers in Uvalde County and the Guadalupe River in Kerr County. “Because of all the rain, the rivers went really high, really fast,” National Weather Service meteorologist Bob Fogarty told KERA News. “We’ve now seen a couple years in a row where we were able to get the thunderstorms to develop,” creating particularly hazardous conditions, he said. Last year’s storm and flash flooding killed more than 130 people, including 28 campers and staff at Camp Mystic on the Guadalupe River near Hunt, Texas. Episcopal leaders in the region have been able to take some of the lessons learned from their response to that disaster and apply them to the most recent flooding. In Kerr County, St. Peter’s has encouraged residents to complete a “Community Needs Assessment” form so the congregation can help direct assistance to those most in need, in coordination with the Communion Foundation of the Texas Hill Country and other local partners. “The impact is quite different compared to last year’s July 4 flood. Fortunately, not as much loss of life, but still quite a bit of property damage all across this county and beyond,” the Rev. Bert Baetz, St. Peter’s rector, said in a social media update about relief and recovery efforts. Baetz also encouraged residents to apply for the church’s cash assistance program, which was successful last year in getting direct assistance into the hands of those most affected by the flooding. In Uvalde, several hundred residents reportedly are dealing with flood-damaged homes. A record rise of the nearby Nueces River also wiped out a section of a key highway bridge southwest of the city. The Rev. Tanner Ambs, St. Philip’s rector, told the congregation during its July 19 worship service that St. Philip’s had received disaster relief funds, including from Episcopal Relief & Development, and church leaders were receiving guidance from St. Peter’s in Kerrville on the best way to distribute that money to flood-affected residents. St. Peter’s has “a really good process that they put into place after last year’s catastrophic floods in Kerrville,” Ambs said. “We will get that in place so that we can accept applications, determine need and make sure that the funding will get to people who need it … so that we can do the best that we can to serve Uvalde and this community.” Read, in his message to the diocese, advised that donated goods are not yet needed but financial donations are welcome, either to local churches and organizations or to the Diocese of West Texas’ fundraising campaign. “The greatest needs now are prayers and financial contributions,” Read said. “Even though the rain has stopped, please continue to pray without ceasing for those who have lost so much in so many of our communities.” – 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] Ecumenical International Youth Day will be observed virtually Aug. 13. This year’s theme is “Creating Healing Spaces: R.E.S.T. – Restore, Empower, Strengthen, Thrive.” The goal is to encourage young people, churches and faith communities worldwide to become active agents of healing, restoration, reconciliation and hope. The commemoration will take place in two separate sessions via Zoom, at 3 a.m. and 9 a.m. Eastern. Read the entire article here.

[Episcopal News Service] The legal battle continues to escalate between a Maryland town and an Episcopal church over the church’s overnight shelter for unhoused people. In response to the church’s lawsuit, the town of Ocean City has filed a countersuit, and it also has rejected the church’s permit applications for unrelated plumbing work. Ocean City filed its countersuit July 21 in an attempt to shut down St. Paul’s By-the-Sea Episcopal Church’s overnight shelter. The church, which is in the Diocese of Easton, had filed its initial lawsuit in federal court last month after it began receiving citations from Ocean City saying it must pay a fine of $1,000 a day or close the shelter on its property.  The Rev. Jill Williams, St. Paul’s By-the-Sea’s rector, told ENS that she’s “not surprised” by the countersuit. “[City officials] had the choice to just back off, and they chose to double down and completely try to categorize this as only a zoning issue while ignoring the fact that it’s a mission and a religious freedom issue,” Williams said. “They’re playing with people’s lives. What they’re doing will ruin people’s lives.” Click here to read the countersuit filing. St. Paul’s By-the-Sea’s legal clashes with Ocean City began in February after the church was given an April 1 deadline to stop allowing homeless people to sleep in church-provided tents on its property or face daily fines. The small encampment was set up last fall in response to Ocean City and the surrounding Worcester County adopting ordinances in May 2025, making it illegal – punishable by jail time – for people to sleep in public spaces. Williams suggested municipal officials adopted these ordinances because Ocean City is a resort town located on a barrier island off the Atlantic coast. “I think they’re just listening to the money. They’re listening to the business owners and to the property condo owners – the people that financially control this city,” Williams said. “We need to prioritize taking care of people.” After raising money to hire staff and cover other expenses required to operate as a shelter, St. Paul’s By-the-Sea beat the town’s deadline when it opened “The Shelter By-the-Sea” on March 31. The ministry operates nightly from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Now, about 25-39 people sleep at the shelter every night. The town’s fire marshal has inspected the shelter and reported no violations, according to Williams. Ocean City police officers and Worcester County Health Department officials have brought several people to stay overnight at the shelter. St. Paul’s By-the-Sea works closely with the Worcester County Public Defender’s Office. The ministry, which is mostly funded by donations and the congregation, also offers dinner and breakfast, and helps overnight guests access other resources, such as substance abuse recovery programs and affordable housing assistance. “We’re using our savings and our investments as necessary because a church is supposed to use its money to live out the Gospel,” Williams said. St. Paul’s By-the-Sea’s and Ocean City’s legal dispute has extended to additional zoning issues. Over the last several months, church officials have worked with multiple plumbing contractors to obtain plumbing permits for a washer, dryer and utility sink, only to be rejected every time, even though electrical work is already complete and up to code. Ocean City officials say they’re enforcing zoning, building and safety codes, but Williams said she doesn’t believe them because neighboring churches have plumbing permits and washers and dryers installed. The church’s attorney, Robin Cockey, has amended the church’s federal complaint to include the frequent plumbing permit denials. St. Paul’s By-the-Sea has a “long road ahead” as it waits for the court date to be scheduled. In the meantime, the congregation continues to raise money and operate its ministry as normal.  “We need a public show of support,” Williams said. “If serving the unhoused is an important part of being an Episcopalian and we recognize it as a vital part of our faith and common ministry, then our voices should be heard.” -Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at [email protected].

[Episcopal News Service] The Diocese of the Great Lakes announced on July 22 a slate of three nominees for its first bishop. The nominees are: The Rev. Terri Bays, canon to the ordinary, Diocese of Northern Indiana. The Rev. Zachary Nyein, senior associate rector, St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, New York, New York. The Rev. Holly Rankin Zaher, rector, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Evansville, Indiana. The diocese was created in 2024 through the merger of the former Diocese of Eastern Michigan and Diocese of Western Michigan. A petition process for additional nominees runs through Aug. 5. Meet-and-greets with the candidates are planned for the week of Sept. 20. The election is schedule for Oct. 24. The following is the text of the standing committee’s announcement. With gratitude and hope, the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of the Great Lakes announces the nomination of three candidates to stand for election as the first bishop diocesan of the Episcopal Diocese of the Great Lakes. This is a sacred and historic moment. For the first time, we will gather as one diocese to call the bishop who will walk alongside us in the years ahead as we continue growing into the diocese God is calling us to be. We give thanks to God for bringing us to this threshold together. We are deeply grateful for the faithful, prayerful and often unseen work of the Search Committee, whose members have given themselves generously to this demanding discernment work on behalf of us all. And we extend our heartfelt thanks to these three candidates for their courage and openness in responding to God’s call, and for their willingness to discern with us the future of Christ’s church in this diocese. We now invite you into this next season of discernment. On the Meet the Candidates page of our website, you’ll find a photo, bio, and short video introducing each candidate. We encourage you to read, watch and, above all, pray. The candidates will spend time among us in a series of Meet and Greets held all across the diocese and online during the week of Sept. 20. The Bishop Transition Committee will announce specific dates and locations soon, along with a number of other opportunities to get to know the candidates and discern together. Watch your email, the diocesan newsletter and our social media in the coming weeks for details. A petition process for any additional nominations opens with today’s announcement and remains open for two weeks, closing on Wednesday, Aug. 5. Once all petition candidates have been reviewed, the final slate will be announced. The election will take place at our Diocesan Convention on Oct. 24 at the VanDyk Mortgage Convention Center in Muskegon. All convention worship and business sessions, including the Saturday election session, will be livestreamed and open for anyone to attend. On-site seating will prioritize voting delegates first, then registered convention visitors, then any unregistered on-site guests. The proposed rules for the election were approved by the Standing Committee at its Feb. 1, 2026 meeting and are part of the larger proposed rules of order for our third diocesan convention, available here. Above all, we ask you to hold this diocese, these candidates, and their families in your prayers. Let us pray together: Almighty God, giver of every good gift and source of all wisdom, look with favor upon your Church in the Episcopal Diocese of the Great Lakes as we seek the bishop you are calling to shepherd and to lead us: Grant to your people faith to discern, courage to choose, and unity to follow in the way of your Son; that guided by your Holy Spirit, all of our prayers may rise up to you, and we may continue to proclaim the Gospel and serve the world in love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. With hope in Christ, The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of the Great Lakes

[Anglican Communion News Service] Several Anglican churches worldwide are preparing to observe the Feast of Creation in Christ this September. In July, the Church of England General Synod approved the addition of the observance into its liturgical calendar. The Feast of Creation in Christ, also known as the Season of Creation, is a worldwide ecumenical Christian observance that begins with the Day of Prayer for Creation on Sept. 1 and ends with the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and ecology, Oct. 4. Several Anglican churches have already begun to institute the festival, including The Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada. The growing momentum for this new liturgical festival was reflected in a resolution that passed during the Anglican Consultative Council, which met June 28 – July 4 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The resolution encourages the adoption of the Feast of Creation in Christ in member church calendars, while also leaving space for churches to draw on ecumenical materials or develop their own. Read the entire article here.

[Episcopal News Service] Washington National Cathedral has announced it will host the funeral for South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Olin Graham next week, including a tribute from President Donald Trump. The service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Eastern July 28. A native of Central, South Carolina, Graham served as U.S. senator from the state from 2003 until he died unexpectedly on July 11 at 71 from an aortic tear caused by cardiovascular disease. At the time of his death, Graham served on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Appropriations Committee, Environment and Public Works Committee and as chair of the Budget Committee. “The cathedral is proud to serve as a sacred space where people gather during times of both celebration and sorrow. We believe that God is present with us in all of life’s moments,” the Very Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith, dean of Washington National Cathedral, said on the cathedral’s web page announcing Graham’s funeral details. “Our prayers are with Senator Graham’s family at this difficult time.” Hollerith will officiate the service. Before he was elected to the U.S. Senate, Graham was a U.S. representative for South Carolina’s 3rd District and a South Carolina state representative. He also served in the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a colonel in 2015. Graham, a Southern Baptist, never married and had no children. His younger sister, Darline Graham Nordone, was appointed by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to serve the remainder of Lindsey Graham’s term, which ends in January. Graham was campaigning for reelection in November before his death. The service will be by invitation only. The public is invited to watch the service online via the Washington National Cathedral’s YouTube channel.

[Episcopal News Service] Episcopal leaders are offering support for Haitian immigrants in their communities while calling on Congress to help protect them from deportation after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to end federal protections. In Springfield, Ohio, which became a flashpoint during the 2024 presidential campaign over the city’s growing Haitian migrant community, some Haitian families had begun attending worship services at Christ Episcopal Church. The Rev. Michelle Boomgaard told Episcopal News Service that attendance noticeably declined after the Supreme Court’s June 25 ruling. Some Haitians already had legal residency through other federal programs. Others have begun applying for asylum or green cards, which should again provide them with at least temporary protection from deportation, Boomgaard said, as returning to their home country isn’t a safe option. “At the end of the day, the situation in Haiti has not improved.” More than 300,000 Haitians had been allowed to live and work in the United States for years under a program known as Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, that has long been supported by The Episcopal Church. It allows the Department of Homeland Security to declare certain foreign nationals protected from deportation if they would face hazards in their home countries from conditions such as natural disasters, civil unrest or other violence. Those protections were thrown into limbo when the Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump’s history of racist and discriminatory statements toward Haitians and other immigrants did not negate the presidential authority to end TPS protections for those immigrants. The ruling also directly affects a small group of Syrians, and it could make it easier for the Trump administration to roll back TPS for immigrants from 10 other countries. The Episcopal Church’s Washington, D.C.-based Office of Government Relations released a statement on the day of the ruling, lamenting that “families who have built their lives, raised children, worshiped, worked and contributed to their communities in the United States may now face the loss of work authorization and protection from deportation.” On July 16, the Office of Government Relations’ Episcopal Public Policy Network followed up with an action alert calling on Episcopalians to urge their representatives in Congress to enact legislative protections for Haitian families. It warned that Haiti “continues to face a profound humanitarian and security crisis” with “widespread violence, kidnapping, political instability, and limited access to basic services.” “Conditions remain so dire that many advocates, faith leaders, and humanitarian organizations have warned that there is no realistic opportunity for a safe and orderly return for Haitian nationals at this time,” the action alert said. On July 2, New York Bishop Matthew Heyd joined a grew of faith leaders in speaking in support of TPS a vigil outside a federal building in Manhattan. In addition, a group of about 20 Episcopal bishops launched a letter-writing campaign this month calling on Senate leaders and the Department of Homeland Security to renew TPS for Haitians. “They are our friends, they are our neighbors, they are our congregants, they are our clergy,” Massachusetts Bishop Julia Whitworth said July 20 in a Facebook video about the bishops’ effort. “This is personal, and it’s urgent.” General Convention has long supported immigration policies that treat migrants with dignity. In 2015, it approved a resolution pledging to support Temporary Protected Status “for all immigrants fleeing for refuge from violence, environmental disaster, economic devastation, or cultural abuse or other forms of abuse.” The Diocese of Haiti is part of The Episcopal Church’s Province II, and Haitian immigrant communities in some American cities have grown large enough to support sizable Episcopal congregations, like St. Paul’s et Les Martyrs d’Haiti in Miami, Florida,  and the Haitian Congregation of the Good Samaritan in New York City. In Elizabeth, New Jersey, Haitians helped revive the dwindling congregation of St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church, according to a Religion News Service report, though fear of federal immigration authorities this year has kept many families away. When Trump first took office in 2017, his administration tried to end protections for many of those with TPS, saying the status never was intended to offer immigrants permanent residency. Then during the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump specifically targeted the growing Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio, using dehumanizing and false rhetoric about Springfield residents eating pets. After returning to office in January 2025, Trump has prioritized sharp reductions of both legal and illegal immigration and now is following through on efforts to end TPS for Haitians and other immigrant groups. An estimated 15,000 Haitian migrants had moved to Springfield since 2020, seeking jobs that local leaders were desperate to fill in the city’s ongoing effort to reverse decades of economic decline. In a small city with a population of less than 60,000, that sudden influx of new residents strained resources and services, though a network of Springfield organizations, including Christ Episcopal Church, coordinated efforts to better welcome these newest neighbors and ease their transition into the local community. Since the Trump campaign’s attacks on those Haitian migrants, “folks in Springfield definitely feel like they have a target on their backs,” the Rev. Michelle Boomgaard, rector of Christ Episcopal Church, told Episcopal News Service in an interview this month. Now, the church and other community groups are scrambling to assist those who fear deportations after losing TPS. “These are human beings and neighbors and friends and people we wave and say ‘hi’ to,” she said. – David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at [email protected].

[Episcopal News Service] Episcopalians in the Diocese of Venezuela are still physically and emotionally recovering from back-to-back earthquakes that devastated the northern state of La Guaira and Caracas, the nation’s capital, nearly a month ago. The recovery process, according to Litoral Ecuador Bishop Cristóbal Olmedo León Lozano, who serves as provisional bishop of Venezuela, will take “a long time.” “There is uncertainty regarding Venezuelans’ emotional and spiritual well-being – uncertainty stemming from the pain of losing a family member and from not receiving immediate aid or the specific type of aid they need. …They are living in a state of despair,” Lozano told Episcopal News Service in a July 15 in-person interview in Spanish. He was chaperoning a delegation of young Episcopalians from his diocese at Evento de Jóvenes Episcopales in Rionegro, Colombia. He has been regularly communicating with clergy and lay leaders in the Diocese of Venezuela.  The 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck Venezuela near Caracas, the capital, 39 seconds apart on June 24. At least 5,200 people have died, and at least 16,740 people were injured, according to the latest government reports. Most Episcopalians in Venezuela are accounted for and safe, according to Lozano and the latest written report by Pragedes Coromoto Jiménez de Salazar, the diocesan communications director. One married couple died and another member died from a heart attack shortly after the earthquakes. Some parishioners at Iglesia Anglicana Episcopal La Reconciliación in Caracas have relatives who died or remain missing. La Reconciliación, the diocesan center, which is also in Caracas, and Iglesia de San Andrés in Catia sustained minor structural damage. The Rev. Ana Graciela Anthony, president of the diocesan standing committee, is in the process of inspecting the damaged buildings’ structural integrity. The diocesan center is now open as a collection center with supplies for rescue personnel and anyone in need. Episcopalians have volunteered to drive around the city on motorcycles to distribute some of the supplies. Episcopal Relief & Development also launched a disaster fund to support on-the-ground immediate and long-term recovery support led by partners in Venezuela. The biggest immediate physical need, according to Lozano, is medicine, which is financially inaccessible to most Venezuelans. “It would be ideal for someone to purchase the medicine directly from a laboratory that distributes it to Venezuela so someone in the diocese can pick it up and hand it out,” Lozano said. However, “sending money to Venezuela is difficult because of time delays, exchange rate differences and other restrictions.” Due to U.S. sanctions on Venezuela, the diocese’s bank account is closed and unable to receive direct funds from donors in the United States. “We are waiting for a new account to be opened so we can begin moving the funds that are currently pending,” Lozano said. Venezuela’s borders are open to neighboring countries, including Colombia. The Bogotá-based Diocese of Colombia has been collecting money, medicine and other goods. Some church leaders from Colombia will meet soon with leaders in Venezuela to deliver the aid in person at the Venezuela-Colombia border. Locally, Lozano and church leaders in Venezuela organized a diocesan earthquake response team, which is now being led by the Rev. Jose Francisco Salazar. The Rev. Rodolfo Albarran, a deacon who leads the Misión Santos Ángeles Custodios, is coordinating pastoral, medical and community responses with public and private organizations. Albarran, Salazar and Jiménez de Salazar launched a project called Emotional and Spiritual Support in collaboration with the London, England-based Anglican Alliance. The project, according to Lozano, has mobilized a team of psychologists to provide mental health support to people who’ve lost loved ones in the earthquakes. The Anglican Alliance is funding the project. Rebuilding people’s livelihoods, Lozano said, will take “much longer” than rebuilding their houses. “You can build houses and people can live in them, but rebuilding the lives of those who lost their entire families is different,” Lozano said. “You can build a house and furnish it with a refrigerator, a stove and everything else, but that won’t replace the pain the people feel over not just the loss of their loved ones, but rather the way they lost them. “Nothing compares to the pain of losing a mother, a father, children, siblings, friends or other loved ones. That pain is far deeper and more intense than anything else,” he said. Venezuelan Episcopalians have joined Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Orthodox and other Christians in ecumenical prayer gatherings that meet three times a week via Zoom. About 50 people participate in these gatherings at a time. Lozano has also been regularly communicating with Archbishop Raúl Biord Castillo of the Catholic Archdiocese of Caracas and leaders of other Christian denominations in Venezuela. As soon as he’s able, Lozano will visit Venezuela to meet with clergy and laity. When praying for Venezuela’s recovery, Lozana said it would be best to focus on spiritual and emotional healing. “The best kind of constant prayer right now is one that asks God for spiritual and emotional stability and rebuilding,” Lozano said. “It means so much to the people of Venezuela.” -Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at [email protected].

[Anglican Communion News Service] The Rt. Rev. Joseph Aba Nicanor, bishop of the Diocese of Liwolo in the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, on July 16 issued an “Urgent Humanitarian Appeal for Emergency Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons” amid rising conflict in South Sudan. As a nation, South Sudan has suffered much conflict and unrest since its birth in 2011 and, formerly, as part of Sudan. Peace only lasted for a short time after the division of the two countries, and the impact of past and present conflict continues to result in widespread displacement, violence, corruption and other disruptions to daily life. The appeal – issued as a letter from the diocesan office and on the church’s social media channels – references recent armed hostilities that have caused the large-scale displacement of an estimated 10,000 civilians in Liwolo Payam, Kajokeji County, Central Equatoria State, along the South Sudan-Uganda border. Read the full story here.

[Episcopal News Service — Rionegro, Colombia] “¡Somos luz, somos sal, juventudes Episcopales!” The young Latin American Episcopalians who attended Evento de Jóvenes Episcopales, or EJE26, sung those lyrics – Spanish for “we are light, we are salt, Episcopal youth” – several times daily throughout the July 13-16 gathering here at De La Salle Casa de Encuentros. The song encompasses the event, which was a celebration of Latino culture and youth empowerment through shared faith and learning. “I had a beautiful experience. My heart opened more during this retreat, and I’ve come to understand that my soul is a missionary soul,” Kelin Mendez, a parishioner at Mision Episcopal El Mesías in Tegucigalpa, Diocese of Honduras, told Episcopal News Service. The event is styled after the Episcopal Youth Event, or EYE, which has historically been held triennially in the United States. The first EJE gathering took place in 2019 in Panama City, Panama. At EJE26, delegates learned how to be active members of their churches and dioceses, focusing on forgiveness, discipleship and leadership. After participating in workshops and discussions on these topics, praying together and engaging in other fellowship-building activities at EJE26, delegates say they’re returning home with renewed and increased faith. “We are being sent out to fulfill God’s will,” Jonathan Lone, a parishioner at San Juan Apostol in Siguatepeque, Diocese of Honduras, told ENS. Every day started and ended with a worship service, and services also took place in between workshops and discussion sessions. For Colombia Bishop Pastor Elias Garcia Cardenas, having young Episcopalians from different countries gather to worship together unites them “as one family.” “When we are together, we are one Episcopal family,” Cardenas told ENS in a July 15 interview. “We are thankful that our young Episcopal family from Province IX and Province II could be here so that they could learn to be active in their communities and learn to be good disciples.” EJE26 brought nearly 100 youth and young adults ages 16 to 23 from South America, Central America and the Caribbean to Rionegro, a municipality in Colombia’s department of Antioquia, near Medellín, for the gathering. Delegations and volunteers came from five of the six Province IX dioceses and the dioceses of Cuba and Puerto Rico, which are in Province II. The Diocese of Venezuela didn’t send a delegation to EJE26. The South American country, which neighbors Colombia to the northeast, has faced numerous conflicts in recent years and is still recovering from back-to-back major earthquakes last month that killed more than 4,800 people. Cardenas, House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris and other church leaders dedicated prayer services to the Diocese of Venezuela during EJE26. “Our celebration was … marked by an empty place at the table. We deeply missed our siblings from Venezuela, who were unable to join us this year,” Ayala Harris said in a July 16 Facebook post. “They were present in our prayers throughout the gathering, and we continue to hold them close in our hearts. We are one church, and when one part of the body is absent, we feel that absence deeply.” Ayala Harris and Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe were part of a Q&A discussion about faith and leadership on July 14. The Cuban delegation also almost didn’t make it. They faced months of uncertainty over whether they could obtain their visas to enter Colombia. Six delegates made it, and they all told ENS they could “feel the love and welcome” when they were greeted by their fellow young Episcopalians upon arrival. That love and welcome, they said, continued through the week. “This was our first time ever leaving Cuba, and we still can’t believe we made it to Colombia,” one delegate told ENS. “We didn’t expect to be welcomed with so much love by people who’ve never met us before, and we will forever be grateful.” “I am very thankful we were able to make this trip from Cuba,” another delegate said. “I am leaving Colombia with so much more faith and hope for the future.” When workshops, discussion activities and worship services weren’t in session, the delegates spent time getting to know each other. Some bonded through music, dance and games, while others ate meals together. During an extended afternoon break on July 15, many delegates watched and cheered for Argentina’s national soccer team during the men’s World Cup semifinals match against England. When Argentina won, shouts of joy could be heard as delegates gathered for worship. “The people we’ve met from other countries are all incredible. It was wonderful to get to know them,” Alison Cantarero, a parishioner at Iglesia San Bartolome Apostol in Honduras, told ENS. “We may have different cultures, dance styles, cuisine, traditions and Spanish accents, but we also have so much in common.” The gathering’s reception was so positive that a delegate from the Diocese of Puerto was met with cheers and claps after asking Rowe and Ayala Harris if The Episcopal Church would consider planning a combined EJE and EYE event. That way, she said, young Spanish and English-speaking Episcopalians can be more closely connected. All the delegates from Honduras said they exchanged contact information and social media handles with delegates from other dioceses to stay connected long after EJE. Building relationships beyond dioceses and countries is important, according to Cardenas, because “when Jesus calls us, there are no divisions. There are no races – no nations. Everyone is equal.” That’s why, Cardenas said, hosting events like EJE for young Episcopalians can help inspire and foster future church leaders. “The youth and young adults are the future. Here in the Diocese of Colombia, we have high hopes for our youth because we want to advocate for a vocation for Episcopal ministry,” Cardenas told ENS. “These young people will bring the fire and energy that the church needs. … This new generation is the future of The Episcopal Church.” -Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She […]