“Despite some glimmers of hope, we had to reckon with death-dealing forces that are shaking the world order and inflicting suffering on many” – the Arusha Call to Discipleship
Certainly, I covet sleep. But I am beginning to find that I cannot begrudge these stolen moments of silent prayer, just Jesus and me, in the desert of the night.
The Office of Public Affairs of the Episcopal Church responded to growing concern about new laws restricting access to abortion in states such as Alabama, Missouri, and Ohio by sending out an email last week summarizing the positions taken by General Convention on the issues of abortion and reproductive healthcare.
Four more priests in the Anglican Church of Nigeria have been dismissed for “homosexual practices.” Their dismissal and defrocking follows similar actions against two other priests less than two weeks ago.
Following the news of the birth of a son to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, at whose wedding he preached last year, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry tweeted: “The Jewish tradition reminds us that the birth of every child is a reminder that God is not finished with us yet. There is hope.”
There is something profoundly hopeful, faith-filled about disappointment, which refuses to be reconciled to sin or the world’s messiness, but expects and demands something closer to the dream in which God designed our creation.
“Our hearts ache for the all those who mourn this week, and as Episcopalians join with countless persons of good will I’m praying for the power of love to overcome the forces of hatred and violence.”
Coventry Cathedral, in turn, tweeted that they will hold their Evening Prayer service tonight in the Cathedral Ruins, as they lament with Notre Dame.
If the world fell silent, yet these stones would shout, Glory: how the mighty crumble; Glory:their facades are fallen; Glory:when the Christ comes calling: Glory.
A new conference designed to help individuals discern a call to seed and lead new Episcopal communities, church plants, and missions is coming in May.