Anglican Communion secretary general visits Houston, Texas, church for Pentecost

[Anglican Communion News Service] On June 8, Pentecost Sunday, Bishop Anthony Poggo, secretary general of the Anglican Communion, visited St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas. It is the first in a series of church and community visits he is making in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas this week, hosted by Texas Bishop Andy Doyle.

Invited to preach at two of St. Martin’s morning services, he also was the special guest at their adult Christian educational hour, where he was interviewed by the Rev. Wesley Arning, associate for Riverway and discipleship ministries. The adult forum explores different topics each week, including Bible study, the spiritual life, social and cultural affairs, and The Episcopal Church.

The global nature of God’s church was a major focus of Poggo’s Pentecost message. Preaching on Acts 2, he described the coming of the Holy Spirit to the apostles at Pentecost as the “birthday of the church,” where God empowered his church to spread the Gospel to all nations.

He celebrated the way he sees the work of the Spirit in the Anglican Communion, saying, “In my role as secretary general of the Anglican Communion, and through our work at the Anglican Communion Office, I am privileged to see the many ways in which Anglicans around the world are acting in the strength and power of God’s spirit to build his church.”

During his interview with Arning, Poggo explained that the Anglican Communion Office works in various ways to cultivate relationships, conversation and learning between Anglican provinces. One example included its role in facilitating the next meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, which will be hosted in Ireland in 2026. Inviting representatives from every province, the Council will be an important opportunity for Anglicans to gather for prayer and dialogue on church and world affairs.

Poggo also celebrated a recent online webinar organized by the Anglican Communion Office, in which Anglican bishops and church planters from around the world shared ideas on mission, evangelism and how they are seeing church growth in their settings.

Touching on his personal faith story, he talked about some of the visits he makes to Anglican churches around the world, including those impacted by conflict and humanitarian crisis. Referring to places like South Sudan and Sudan, he remarked that for many Christians, the words “give us today our daily bread” is a prayer of utter reliance.

The discernment process to nominate the next archbishop of Canterbury, the work of the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals and ways in which people could support the work of the ACO also were featured in the interview.

Asked by Arning what encouragement he would give to the people of St. Martin’s, Poggo invited people to think of the connection of the local church to the global, encouraging people to “remain connected” so that we can all “learn from one another.” And during his Pentecost sermon he said, “We should not only think of the work of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost day, but every day of our lives we should be filled with the Holy Spirit for continuous ministry as we minister daily in our work to build the church of God.”

The secretary general’s time at St. Martin’s was hosted and assisted by the Rev. Martin J. Bastian, vice rector,  and other members of the clergy team, including the Rev. Sharron Cox, the Rev. Lisa Neilson, the Rev. Jordan Hylden and the Rev. Gregory Cross.

Since its founding in 1952, St. Martin’s Episcopal Church has grown to become the largest Episcopal Church in North America with more than 10,000 members. The parish celebrates worship at six Sunday and three Wednesday services in both traditional and contemporary liturgical styles.