So what do you think? Should a decade of evangelism kick off with an early retirement plan funded by the Church Pension Group? Is the time auspicious — has the culture war within The Episcopal Church turned a corner so that young people are less likely to be driven away? Afterall, Mary Glasspool’s consecration barely caused a ripple inside or outside the church.
Bishop Kirk Smith writes to the Spanish-speaking Episcopalians of Arizona.
The United Church of Christ has released a new video called “The Language of God” as part of their “God is still speaking” series.
Seminarian Karri Backer has been leading contemplative prayer groups for men in a LA Correctional Facility, which houses the most severe offenders.
Every Sunday close to 350,000 churches open their doors to the public. How do you know what you’re walking into? What will the pastor be talking about? What kind of people attend? ChurchRater lets you read what others say about the church and rate your own experience. ChurchRater lets you talk back after sitting through a sermon.
Updated. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. The imposition of ashes is a powerful symbol of our “mortality and penitence” and a powerful reminded of our need for God. We have heard of several churches in Chicago and St. Louis who have found ways of bring the ancient rite to busy places where people live and work.
We do church this way because people are hungry. People in New York have hungry bellies that may be filled with home cooked food. They have hungry souls that may be filled with holy text, holy conversation. And these hungers are sated when we sit down together to eat.
I serve an anxious institution – the Episcopal Church. It is being served and led by some really remarkable people who struggle to address these questions, faithfully, these days. It is not an easy calling or vocation to offer, mostly because it is really hard to sort out the Club practices and values from those of the crude little life-saving station. Much of the time, we live in the gray realm between those two.
The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori discusses the new communication strategies and how they relate to one of our primary ministries: evangelism.
“Where are you going so early all dressed up?” she asked, chuckling. “To church?” We shared a laugh at the absurdity of a liberal New Yorker heading off to worship.