Author: wwedderburn

[Church of England] The General Synod of the Church of England has voted to strengthen the role of young adults in shaping the church’s future, passing a motion to embed their voices more systematically in national decision-making. The motion, brought by the National Society for Education, will establish a group of up to 200 young…

[The Catholic Diocese of Westminster] Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell has written to Cardinal Vincent Nichols, archbishop of Westminster, expressing his prayers, along with those of many faithful Anglicans, for the health of Pope Francis during his period of hospitalization. The text of Cottrell’s letter follows. My dear brother in Christ, I wanted to be…

[Episcopal News Service] The Rt. Rev. Mark Bourlakas, who has been bishop of the Roanoke-based Diocese of Southwestern Virginia since 2013, has announced that he is leaving to become an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Virginia. Virginia Bishop E. Mark Stevenson announced that Bourlakas would begin work on June 1 and will have an…

[World Council of Churches] A Palestinian delegation visited the World Council of Churches on Feb. 18 to participate in deep dialogues on justice, peace and the dignity of all people. The delegation was led by His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III, patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine and head of the Jerusalem…

Members of Executive Council participate Feb. 18 in a brainstorming activity on their oversight priorities for the coming churchwide staff realignment. Photo: David Paulsen/Episcopal News Service [Episcopal News Service – Linthicum Heights, Maryland] Executive Council has talked of a “strategic adaptive realignment” of The Episcopal Church’s operations at least as far back as June 2023….

South Carolina Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley speaks via Zoom to members of Executive Council on Feb. 17 as they meet in Linthicum Heights, Maryland. Photo: David Paulsen/Episcopal News Service [Episcopal News Service – Linthicum Heights, Maryland] Executive Council is poised to forgive about $2.7 million in debt that the Diocese of South Carolina accrued after a…

Students plant trees in the West Greenville neighborhood of Greenville, South Carolina, for Community Tree Day on Nov. 10, 2022. Photo: Flickr/RawPixel.com/Creative Commons [Religion News Service] In the more than five years that Stillmeadow Community Fellowship in Baltimore has worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service to rehabilitate the 10-acre forest on its urban…

[Church in Wales] Swansea’s iconic St. Mary’s Church became Wales’ first minster in a special service on Feb. 16. The declaration was made by Archbishop of Wales Andrew John. The church, which was rebuilt in the 1950s after being burned to the ground during the Nazis’ three-day blitz of the city in World War II, is…

[Church of England] General Synod on Feb. 11 debated and voted on two proposed models (labelled 3 and 4) for independent safeguarding in the Church of England. Members approved a motion (amended) that endorses “Model 3” first, while doing further work on “Model 4” (both models are outlined in the Future of Church Safeguarding Synod paper)….

Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe on Feb. 17 gives his opening remarks at a meeting of Executive Council held at the Maritime Conference Center in Linthicum Heights, Maryland. Photo: David Paulsen/Episcopal News Service [Episcopal News Service – Linthicum Heights, Maryland] Executive Council has convened here Feb. 17-19 for its first meeting since the inauguration of President…