Parishes – Page 9 – Episcopal Cafe

Feeding the ego, starving the Church

May 12, 2010 4 Comments

No one wants to join a community wringing its hands and navel gazing over its own demise. Nor does anyone want to simply become a number to prop up a flagging institution. The real questions we need to be asking are those like these: Are we endeavoring to be faithful to the Gospel and to our God? Does our institution serve our mission of Christ Jesus to transform hearts and reflect God’s work in the world?

Beating the bounds

April 23, 2010 4 Comments

There is an old ritual called “beating the bounds” where the members of a parish go out and mark the boundaries of a parish in a city or village. The idea is not just territorial, but pastoral. When the community “beats the bounds” they are saying that they are in some way responsible to God for the people inside those boundaries. Every now and then, God shows us just what that means.

CT property is TECs

March 18, 2010 3 Comments

A state superior court judge ruled March 15 that the real and personal property of Bishop Seabury Episcopal Church in Groton, Connecticut, is held in trust for the Diocese of Connecticut and the Episcopal Church.

The search process as journey

March 8, 2010 No Comments

John Vonhof of

For Episcopal parish music program reaches 1.4 million YouTube

March 3, 2010 No Comments

In July 2007 while music director and organist at Redeemer Episcopal Church in Morristown, he [Wayne Burcham-Gulotta] began posting his choir and organ music from

A bit of good news from Grace, Colorado Springs

February 6, 2010 No Comments

Grace Episcopal Church has had a tough run since it began dealing with the consequences of a congregational split initiated by then rector Don Armstrong. The legal costs and the questions of who actually owned the property caused the congregation to have to defer some much needed repairs on the parish’s historic property (which houses their offices).

Telling stories may get you unstuck

January 14, 2010 1 Comment

Is your church stuck? Would you like to see some movement, change, and growth?

A “gift from God” meets local opposition

January 1, 2010 8 Comments

How to stay in the city and find creative ways to fund new ministries while still maintaining the connection to the neighborhood?

Maintenance and mission, or,
What are we doing here?

November 29, 2009 3 Comments

More homeless people are coming to our door in search of food, warm clothing and access to social services. A community of homeless people is forming under the beltway overpass, just a quarter of a mile down the road. We are clearly being called to some deeper discernment about how we can best and most responsibly provide the right kind of help to our near neighbors in need.

Vandalism against All Saints, Chicago, soup kitchen

November 21, 2009 4 Comments

The vandals had apparently read a New York Times’ story, which said the the soup kitchen saved Chicago’s poor from “drowning.” The vandals knocked out one pane of a stained glass window and slid a garden hose through the opening. One third of the sanctuary sustained water damage.

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Tag: Parishes