Uncategorized

[World Council of Churches] Churches in Kenya are opening places to pray and congregate for thousands of people displaced by floods that have killed more than 200 people. On April 30 , a government spokesman said that 169 people had died from floods and at least 91 were still missing. President William Ruto said the government…

St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Bluff, Utah, is one of the churches that make up the Episcopal Church in Navajoland, which includes parts of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. Photo: St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church [Episcopal News Service] The 81st General Convention’s Governance & Structure committees voted unanimously April 30 to recommend creation of a new…

[Religion News Service — Charlotte, North Carolina] United Methodists meeting for their top legislative assembly May 1 overwhelmingly overturned a measure that barred gay clergy from ordination in the denomination, a historic step for the nation’s second-largest Protestant body. With a simple vote call and without debate, delegates to the General Conference removed the ban on…

[UM News] Delegates to the United Methodist General Conference approved full communion with the Episcopal Church on April 30. The agreement needs the approval of the Episcopalians before going into effect. During the conference’s “Ecumenical Day,” the morning plenary session was halted briefly to acknowledge the vote. “We want to lift up and recognize this moment,…

The General Convention legislative committees on Prayer Book, Music and Liturgy are considering changes to the Good Friday liturgy to remove language that many see as antisemitic. Photo: AP [Episcopal News Service] The General Convention legislative committees on Prayer Book, Music and Liturgy heard testimony on April 27 on several resolutions, including one that offers…

[Nashotah House Theological Seminary] Concluding a competitive national search, Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Wisconsin has named Lauren Whitnah as its next dean. Whitnah joins Nashotah House from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she has held academic and administrative roles. A medieval historian, Whitnah has served on the teaching faculty of the University of…

During The Episcopal Church’s April 26, 2024 webinar, “A Closer Look: LGBTQIA2S+ Migration,” participants learned about the unique challenges and legal hurdles LGBTIQ+ migrants face in their home countries and in the countries where they seek asylum and resettlement. Photo: Screenshot [Episcopal News Service] In 2023, Episcopal Migration Ministries launched the Rainbow Initiative to help…

[Episcopal News Service] An online hearing was held April 29 on proposed changes to the House of Deputies’ Rules of Order. The proposals are intended to streamline the process for considering legislation at General Convention, though some deputies have raised concerns that the changes would go too far in limiting deputies’ opportunity for deliberation and…

[The Church of England] The Rt. Rev. Nick Baines, bishop of Leeds and the Church of England’s lead bishop for foreign affairs, and the Rt. Rev. Paul Swarbrick, the lead bishop for Africa of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, have issued a joint statement about the civil war taking place in Sudan….

Kathryn Lohre (bottom), executive for ecumenical and interreligious relations in the office of ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, urged members of the Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations legislative committees to support a resolution on the exchangeability of deacons between The Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Photo: Zoom screenshot [Episcopal News Service] Five…