Diocese of Canterbury commissions LGBTQIA+ chaplains

[Diocese of Canterbury] The Church of England’s Diocese of Canterbury has five new chaplains for the LGBTQIA+ community after they were commissioned during a service of Evensong at Canterbury Cathedral on Feb. 5, during LGBT+ history month. The group includes two clergy and three lay people. Dover Bishop Rose Hudson-Wilkin has oversight for the diocese…

Diocese of Easton bishop to conclude duties a year early with new retirement date

[Episcopal News Service] Easton Bishop Santosh Marray plans to conclude his official duties as bishop of the the Maryland diocese a year earlier than previously announced, according to a revision of his retirement plans that was announced Feb. 11. Marray initially said last November that he planned to retire in fall 2026, setting in motion…

Episcopal Church joins religious freedom lawsuit challenging ICE enforcement actions in churches

Representatives of plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies participate in a Zoom news conference on Feb. 11. [Episcopal News Service] More than two dozen Christian and Jewish organizations, including The Episcopal Church, sued the Trump administration on Feb. 11 for allowing immigration officers to target churches and other “sensitive” places…

Church of England’s Commission for Racial Justice publishes final report

[Church of England] The Archbishops’ Commission for Racial Justice has published its sixth and final report, following three years of extensive interrogation and questioning of the Church of England’s willingness to embed racial justice in its structures and the practice of its ministry. Mandated to drive “significant cultural and structural change on issues of racial justice within…

Malaysian bishop meets Egypt’s grand imam to strengthen interfaith ties

[Anglican Communion News Service] The Rt. Rev. Danald Jute — bishop of Kuching, located in Malaysia and part of the Church of the Province of South East Asia, and chair of the Anglican Interfaith Commission — recently met with Ahmed El-Tayeb, grand imam of Al-Azhar Mosque, in Cairo. The meeting, held at Al-Azhar, reaffirmed the shared…

Presiding bishop honors Absalom Jones at Philadelphia’s historic Church of St. Thomas

Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe, left, and the Very Rev. Martini Shaw, celebrate the Eucharist during a Feb. 9 service celebrating the Feast of Absalom Jones. Photo: Kirk Petersen/Episcopal News Service [Episcopal News Service] To celebrate the Feast of Absalom Jones, Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe traveled to the spiritual home of the first Black Episcopal priest:…

Church of England marks Racial Justice Sunday Feb. 9 with online service, other observances

[Church of England] In a national online service Feb. 9 that marked the 30th anniversary of Racial Justice Sunday, viewers heard that racial justice reflects “core” Christian values and is “rooted in love.” The bishop of Edmonton, the Rt. Rev. Anderson Jeremiah, led the service, in a broadcast from St. Francis at the Engine Room…

Former Church in Wales bishop admits to indecent assault on a child over 30 years ago

[Church in Wales] The Rt. Rev. Anthony Pierce, who was bishop of Swansea and Brecon between 1999 and 2008, has appeared at Swansea Crown Court and has admitted five counts of indecent assault on a male child under the age of 16. The offenses date from between 1985 and 1990, when Pierce was a parish priest in…

Olympia’s historically Japanese parish to commemorate 83rd anniversary of World War II internment camps

Mitsuko (Murakami) Otani and Seigo Otani, left, were matched and married inside the Minidoka War Relocation Center, an internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II. Their daughter, the Rev. Polly Shigaki served as deacon of St. Peter’s Episcopal Parish, a historically Japanese church in Seattle, Washington. Shigaki’s husband, John Shigaki, was born inside…