[Episcopal News Service] The Diocese of Florida Standing Committee is calling for the election of a diocesan bishop, nearly two years after the last election was negated amid divisions within the diocese under the former bishop and churchwide concerns about the election process and the bishop-elect. Florida’s standing committee announced March 31 that it has scheduled a special meeting of the Florida Diocesan Convention for June 14 to adopt a nominating process, rules and procedures for seeking and electing the diocese’s ninth bishop. The standing committee’s tentative timeline would allow for an election in late summer or early fall 2026 and the bishop-elect’s consecration in early 2027. The announcement follows a period of healing and discernment among members of the Jacksonville-based diocese involving a series of conversations across difference. Those conversations, which are ongoing, have been facilitated by the Rt. Rev. Mary Gray-Reeves, the former Diocese of El Camino Real bishop who is trained in conflict mediation. The process was not intended specifically to enable a new bishop election, though diocesan leaders previously indicated healing would be necessary before a new election could be held. “We feel like we’re ready. There’s been lots of conversations over the last year and a half or so,” the Rev. Sarah Minton, the standing committee president, said March 31 in an interview with Episcopal News Service. “It’s time. We are meant to operate with a bishop.” The diocese has been without a diocesan bishop since the October 2023 retirement of former Florida Bishop John Howard, who had served for nearly 20 years. Howard, known as one of The Episcopal Church’s more theologically conservative bishops, had drawn criticism from more progressive leaders in the diocese, particularly for his resistance to LGBTQ+ inclusion. Howard now faces potential disciplinary action under the church’s Title IV canons for alleged discrimination, as well as a separate complaint alleging financial impropriety. Those cases are scheduled to go before a hearing panel, starting April 30, unless an accord is reached with churchwide leaders beforehand. Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe, who took office last November, said in a February statement he is attempting to negotiate a disciplinary accord “that promotes healing, repentance, forgiveness, restitution, justice, amendment of life and reconciliation,” citing canonical language. Such an agreement, if reached, also would need the approval of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops. Under Howard, tensions in the diocese began rising to the surface in 2022 when the diocese twice tried to elect his successor. In both elections, the diocese chose the Rev. Charlie Holt as its next bishop, but those elections were successfully blocked by objections filed by some Florida clergy and lay leaders, leaving Florida unable to consecrate a new bishop. Holt has since become rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Jacksonville. Gray-Reeves’ work with the Diocese of Florida has included multiple convocations, a clergy conference, a clergy day and a day of prayer, the standing committee said. In addition, retired Georgia Bishop Scott Benhase agreed to serve Florida as a part-time assisting bishop with help from retired New Jersey Bishop Chip Stokes. In January 2024, Gray-Reeves released a summary of her initial listening sessions and dozens of letters lamenting a “culture of acrimony and distrust” in the diocese. Some letters raised concerns about diocesan leadership under Howard. Others identified perceived bias and exclusion relating to LGBTQ+ persons, as well as women and people of color. “A few letters reflected upset and disappointment in the outcome of the [bishop] election process,” Gray-Reeves continued, both from those who thought Holt should have been consecrated and those who objected to his election. Holt had fallen short of receiving consent from the churchwide majorities of bishops and standing committees, as required by the church’s canons. In September 2024, at the latest diocesan convention, some members backed a resolution urging the Florida Standing Committee to launch a new bishop search. That measure was tabled to allow more time for “further healing and strengthening.” “The continued success of this process will reveal the best election timing to the Standing Committee,” the standing committee said at the time in a statement to ENS. Minton told ENS this week that the additional time has given the standing committee more confidence that the diocese is ready now to seek a new bishop. She emphasized that concerns about the election process have been addressed with updates to the diocese’s canons and policies ensuring greater transparency. Before the special convention on June 14, the diocese will release a draft of proposed rules and procedures, which will be debated and approved by delegates. This also will be the first time the diocese is following a new process for determining voting rolls. Canonically resident clergy who are active in Florida congregations automatically qualify to vote, while those without cure, such as retired clergy or those living outside the diocese, must register by April 15. “As we enter this pivotal time for our diocese, may we be united in spirit and steadfast in prayer,” Minton said March 31 in her message to the diocese announcing the special convention. “We humbly ask that you join us in lifting up this initiative to the Lord, believing that he will lead us with wisdom and bless our work for his glory.” – David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

[Anglican Communion News Service] On March 27, the Anglican Communion raised South Sudan’s plight at the 58th Session of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations in Geneva, emphasizing the human rights of women in the country, which is again on the brink of war. With high poverty levels, large refugee movements, inter-ethnic communal violence and endemic corruption, South Sudan – the world’s newest country – is standing on a precipice. Those who suffer most are usually women and girls, and so the Anglican statement spoke out against the gender-based violence, sexual violence used by armed groups and the forced abductions that plague South Sudanese society. In his statement to the UN, the Rev. Glen Ruffle, the Anglican Communion’s UN representative in Geneva, highlighted the work of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and the Mothers’ Union in challenging systemic patriarchy, alongside their work to give women livelihoods, opportunities and equal access to justice. Commenting afterward he said, “The work of our churches is inspired by Jesus, who raised up the weak and protected the most vulnerable. Women and girls are impacted the most by the conflicts and poverty, so we are calling on the world to help states like South Sudan, where things are so fragile.” The Anglican statement called on South Sudan’s leaders and the world’s states to commit to implementing the peace agreements, strengthen prosecution of gender-based violence, build microfinance and literacy programs for women and girls, and work with the South Sudan Council of Churches. Here is the text of Ruffle’s statement: The Vienna Declaration remains a major achievement for human rights, recognizing the dignity of each person, which we believe reflects the image of God in them, but rights mean little when the world allows atrocities against women and girls to continue. As an example, 14 years ago, the world welcomed the birth of South Sudan, yet today women and girls continue to be abducted, raped along ethnic lines, subjected to sexual exploitation by captors and gang raped. Although there have been some improvements in prosecutions of gender-based violence via mobile courts, there remains in most cases impunity to these crimes against humanity, with sexual violence still used systematically by armed groups. The Episcopal Church of South Sudan, the Mothers’ Union, parts of the Anglican Communion, alongside many other churches and organizations, are working to challenge the systemic patriarchy, power imbalances and the under-representation of women, as well as reconciling communities and advocating for the poorest. To protect human rights across the whole country, particularly women’s rights, we call on South Sudanese leaders to: Recommit to implement the revitalized peace agreement, Work with the South Sudan Council of Churches to reduce tensions and violence, Strengthen the prosecution of gender-based violence; and Encourage microfinance and literacy opportunities for women and girls. We urge states and South Sudan’s leaders to commit to reduce the escalating tensions, which, should violence return, will impact women and girls the most.

[Diocese of Edinburgh] The Rt. Rev. John Armes, bishop of the Diocese of Edinburgh in the Scottish Episcopal Church, is in Amman, Jordan, for the Summit of the Anglican-Lutheran International Commission on Unity and Mission. That event is taking place March 28 to April 3. The summit will bring together ten pairs of senior church leaders from the Anglican Communion and the Lutheran World Federation whose jurisdictions are twinned with another in their respective partner’s province. Armes will focus on the Diocese of Edinburgh’s links with the Diocese of Espoo in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. Bishop Kaisamari Hintikka of Espoo and Armes will report on the link between the two dioceses and their hopes for the future. Many national churches in the Anglican Communion and the Lutheran World Federation are in full communion with each other. The summit will explore the agreements that support this, and the implications for global communion and the path to Christian unity. Through the Porvoo Communion, the Scottish Episcopal Church has been in full communion with the Lutheran churches of Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Estonia and Lithuania since 1994. The summit will also explore the theme of baptism, and members will visit Al-Maghtas, or Bethany Beyond the Jordan, which is one of two sites traditionally associated with the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan River and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

[Episcopal News Service] Over the next week, some Episcopal churches will recognize International Transgender Day of Visibility, March 31, with special worship services and educational events to celebrate transgender people and their contributions to society, and to raise awareness of the discrimination they face worldwide. “This is a time of celebration. I do think it’s important to acknowledge the particular context we are in right now, but for now we will focus on empowerment and strengths and celebrating the vibrant, lived reality of trans and nonbinary and two-spirit [meaning, third-gender person],” the Rev. Cameron Partridge, rector of St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church in San Francisco, Diocese of California, and a trans man, told Episcopal News Service. “We’re here and we are in community and we’re in leadership, and we have opportunities to experience and express our joy even in the midst of hardship.” Partridge will preach at Grace Cathedral’s Trans Day of Visibility evening Eucharist at 6 p.m. Pacific on March 30, which will be streamed via Zoom.  “There are so many pressures for trans people to fly under the radar, to not be noticed, to try to minimize who they are. This Eucharist is a chance to let that aside and just be loved for who you are and to celebrate before God who God created you to be,” the Very Rev. Malcolm Young, dean of Grace Cathedral, told ENS. “It’s so important to support and love our trans siblings every day.” After the worship service, Partridge will moderate a conversation with Nico Lang, an LGBTQ+ news and politics reporter, about their newest book, “American Teenager: How Trans Kids are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era.” Earlier in the day on March 30, St. Aidan’s morning worship services will incorporate some liturgical resources recently created for the day of visibility. TransEpiscopal, a group that advocates for more inclusive church policies toward transgender people and creates supportive spaces for trans Episcopalians, and the Associated Parishes for Liturgy and Mission collaborated on the liturgical resources. Also, in the Diocese of California, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Redwood City will host a day of visibility service on April 5. The term “transgender” refers to an individual whose gender identity, expression or behavior does not conform with the person’s assigned sex at birth, whereas nonbinary reflects a gender identity that is not strictly male or female. The terms are often associated with each other but are not interchangeable. Rachel Crandall Crocker, a transgender activist and psychotherapist from Michigan, founded the first Transgender Day of Visibility in 2009 out of frustration that the only designated day recognizing trans people was the Transgender Day of Remembrance. The day of remembrance, which takes place every Nov. 20, memorializes those who’ve been targeted and murdered for being transgender and raises awareness of violence against trans people. In contrast, the day of visibility is a time of unashamed pride, celebration and acknowledgement of trans people’s existence and resilience. The Diocese of New York will host a livestreamed 12 p.m. Eastern prayer service celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility on March 29 at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Aaron Scott, The Episcopal Church’s gender justice officer and a lay trans man, will preach. “I am most excited to be with a whole bunch of other trans people at a gathering that is about us being alive – right together – even when we now have officially seen legislation that says we don’t exist,” Scott told ENS. LGBTQ+ sentiment and hate crimes targeting LGBTQ+ people have increased in recent years. Out of 821 anti-trans bills introduced in 49 states so far in 2025 by federal, state and local legislators, 40 have already passed, and 725 cases remain active, according to the Trans Legislation Tracker, an independent research organization that tracks bills affecting anti-trans and gender-diverse people in the United States. Last week, South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden signed a bill into law that restricts trans people from using public bathrooms that match their gender identity. Similar bills are moving forward in Arkansas, Tennessee and New Hampshire. After taking office on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump issued a series of executive orders aimed at erasing references across federal agencies and departments to issues of diversity and “gender ideology.” By early February, agency websites began to remove mention of transgender or queer people, including the Rev. Pauli Murray, and changed the acronym LGBTQ (for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) to LGB. “Now more than ever, it’s important for the church to invest in real relationships, whether that’s one-on-one in your parish or between your parish and diocese, and whatever transgender-led organizations that are in your wider community,” Scott said. “This is a great time to reach out to your local trans youth group or LGBTQ center and say, ‘Hey, we are an affirming church. If you have a need for food donations or a need for people who need transportation to and from medical appointments or whatever, we’re here for you.’” New York Assistant Bishop Mary Glasspool, the second openly gay – and first lesbian – bishop in the Anglican Communion, told ENS in a phone interview, “When you are in a group that’s considered a minority group, and there is a whole sort of stereotypical characterization of that group, and you may feel targeted simply because you’re a member of that group, not because of who you are as an individual, it can be very scary,”  Glasspool, who oversees the Diocese of New York’s LGBTQ+ Concerns Committee, will retire on June 30 after almost 45 years of ordained ministry. “You can’t say there aren’t transgender people in the world. They are wonderful human beings – children of God – deserving … to be loved and accepted into the human community,” she said. New York Bishop Matthew Heyd, who will preside over the prayer service at St. John the Divine, echoed a

[Episcopal News Service] “Audrey’s Children,” a feature-length biopic about Dr. Audrey Evans, a pioneering British American pediatric oncologist and a devout Episcopalian who co-founded the first Ronald McDonald House with members of the Philadelphia Eagles and McDonald’s, will have a limited theatrical release beginning March 28. Natalie Dormer – best known for her roles in “Game of Thrones” and “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2” – stars as Evans, the first female chief of oncology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one of the first doctors to treat pediatric cancers with chemotherapy. Directed by Ami Canaan Mann, “Audrey’s Children” highlights Evans’ myriad accomplishments in the 1970s while battling sexism and medical conventions of the time. Julia Fisher Farbman, a close friend of Evans, wrote the script and produced the film. “There are so many things that happen in the movie that I remember Audrey telling us that happened. …Natalie [Dormer] did such a great job showcasing the persistence and also the pain in Audrey’s life, too,” David Kasievich, president and head of school at St. James School, a tuition-free Episcopal school for children grades 4 through 8 in Philadelphia, told Episcopal News Service. Not long after she retired in 2009 from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Evans co-founded St. James School, which opened its doors two years later. “Being a woman – being in a very male-dominated role – Audrey hit so many roadblocks and legal issues,” said Kasievich, who watched an early screening of the movie. “You’re going to see some things in this movie, and you’re going to say, ‘Whoa.’ This woman defied all the resistance.” Born in York, England, in 1925, Evans was the only female student at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in Scotland and the only woman in her residency program at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh in the early 1950s. In 1953, she earned a Fulbright Fellowship and moved to Massachusetts to train at Boston Children’s Hospital for two years. Evans completed her medical training at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1955. She briefly moved back to England to practice pediatrics but returned to the United States after learning that the field was closed to women in her home country. After working in pediatric oncology in Boston and Chicago, Illinois, Evans was recruited to create a pediatric oncology unit at CHOP, where she spent the rest of her medical career. In 1971, she developed the Evans Staging System for neuroblastoma – a cancer that starts in neuroblast cells and mostly affects infants and young children – to help determine disease progression and treatment efficacy. The system helped cut the mortality rate in half, and today, the survival rate is 90-95%. “To be the one who cares is one of the most rewarding experiences in a person’s life,” Evans once said. While serving as chief of oncology, Evans noticed that many out-of-town families of children receiving treatment at CHOP had no place, or no affordable place to stay in the city. In the early 1970s, she met Jim Murray, then-general manager of the Philadelphia Eagles, when the NFL team raised and donated $100,000 to the hospital for children with cancer in honor of a leukemia patient, Kim Hill – the daughter of Fred Hill, a tight end and wide receiver. At the time, another Eagles player, quarterback Roman Gabriel, was advertising seasonal Shamrock Shakes for McDonald’s. (Kim Hill later died of brain cancer in 2011.) After Evans proposed free housing for families of children treated at CHOP, Murray reached out to Ed Rensi, McDonald’s regional manager, for a donation toward purchasing a house. Rensi said yes and that he would donate proceeds from Shamrock Shake sales toward the house if it would be named the Ronald McDonald House, after the fast-food chain’s clown mascot. Gabriel was inspired to later open the first Ronald McDonald House in North Carolina, his home state. Dormer told the hosts of “The View” television program in a March 27 interview that she “could not fathom that [Evans] wasn’t a household name.” “[Audrey’s Children] is just the most amazing tale of the most incredible woman – pioneering, determined woman,” said Dormer, who met Evans before filming commenced. Evans died two weeks into filming in 2022 at age 97. “[Evans] was one of those great Americans who dedicated her life to giving hope and comfort to families. She didn’t just sit back; she saw the pain – the need – and she stepped into it,” Pennsylvania Bishop Daniel Gutiérrez told ENS in a phone interview. “She was extraordinary in every way that it’s hard even to encapsulate the profound impact she made on the world. “To know Audrey Evans – her study and her advancements in medicine, especially pediatric oncology – it’s indescribable. She was a faithful Episcopalian who cared so much and who did so much. Audrey lived a life of love as a true Christian servant, living in and caring for the community.” The first Ronald McDonald House – founded by Evans, Murray, Fred Hill, Philadelphia Eagles owner Leonard Tose and McDonald’s – opened in 1974 in Philadelphia. The independent nonprofit, Ronald McDonald House Charities is headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, where the McDonald’s Corporation is based. Today, it operates more than 387 houses in 62 countries, all located minutes away from special care hospitals. It provides at least 2.7 million overnight stays annually. In 2023, families saved $736 million in lodging and meal expenses. The charity also provides free home-cooked meals and holistic services to families, an additional service that Evans encouraged. Ronald McDonald House Charities also operates more than 271 “family rooms” inside hospitals in 28 countries, which allow families to rest while staying beside their sick children. The family rooms provide free snacks and toys, as well as a private place to shower and take a nap. Additionally, Ronald McDonald House Charities operates 41 “care mobiles”

[Episcopal News Service] At Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the 11 a.m. Eastern service on March 16 was a special observance of the fifth anniversary of the church’s shutdown during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. It included readings that dealt with illness and loss, prayers for healthcare workers and those who died, and music that often is used at funerals, including “O God our Help in Ages Past.” The Rev. Jonathon Jensen, the church’s rector, told Episcopal News Service that he started wondering last fall why his congregation, or any congregation in The Episcopal Church, had yet to liturgically mark something that had impacted so many people for so long. So, he and Alan Lewis, the church’s director of music, started making plans to do it. They chose March 16 because five years earlier it was on Sunday, March 15, 2020, that in-person worship was suspended at Calvary, and it remained that way for about 14 months, Jensen said. The remembrance formed the first part of the service and began with the clergy and choir all wearing masks. “I hadn’t worn a mask in a couple of years,” he said. “I had forgotten how hot it was, how itchy, how hard it is to breathe.” The choir sat apart from each other as they had in the days of social distancing, and paper signs reminding people to stand 6 feet apart lined the center aisle. Jensen said that people told him those elements were “more powerful than they had imagined, and they had forgotten what it was like.” After the offertory, masks came off and the choir returned to their usual place near the altar. The service included elements that Jensen said were intentionally tactile and sensory, as a contrast to the COVID-era practice of staying away from others. That included the offer to anoint people with oil, and while that is available every week, about 20% of the congregations took part that day. “That never happens on a Sunday,” he said. In his sermon, Jensen described how he learned to preach to a pole in an empty nave during early online worship, “hoping somebody on the other end was watching.” He mentioned the losses people suffered, from missed graduations and kids learning behind screens to postponed weddings and funerals held online – including his own father’s funeral. Another impact is reflected, he said, in a recent Pew survey that showed that 72% of Americans said the pandemic did more to drive the country apart than to bring it together. One thing he believes the church can do is to help people heal. He hoped this service and its offering of “a ritual, a liturgical acknowledgement of the death, literally and metaphorically, that we experienced,” was a start, he said. Other remembrances in Georgia, Church of England St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta, Georgia, used a different medium to mark the anniversary – a 4-by-5-foot icon featuring a variety of COVID-era images, including washing hands, worshipping online and getting a vaccine. The Rev. Patricia Templeton, St. Dunstan’s rector, commissioned the icon in memory of her husband, Joe Monti, who died from Covid in 2023. Monti taught moral theology and Christian ethics at the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, for 27 years before he retired in 2009. The icon was created by Kelly Latimore, a noted icon writer known for his icon of Matthew Shepard displayed at Washington National Cathedral. The murder of Shepard, a gay college student, in 1998 in Laramie, Wyoming, sparked a national outcry against homophobia and violence against LGBTQ+ people. Atlanta Bishop Robert Wright blessed the icon on March 16. During that service, parishioners were invited to put a bit of gold leaf on their thumbs and press it to the icon to add to the halos of people portrayed in it. Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell officiated at an online service on March 25 that marked five years since the Church of England began hosting a virtual, national worship service it calls Church at Home. The Church of England has offered a weekly online service from a variety of churches nationwide since March 22, 2020, when former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby officiated at the first one. In 2024, the services drew over 21 million views. The virtual anniversary service included some notable recorded elements from the past five years, including the Rev. Richard Allen leading the confession from a lifeboat in Cornwall’s Trelawny Benefice, and hymns from St. Martin’s Voices, one of the United Kingdom’s most notable choral ensembles, singing in a stable, where a donkey famously interrupted filming with its chorus of braying. The service also included a reflection from the Rev. Gill Behenna, national Deaf ministry advisor for the Church of England and one of its regular sign language interpreters. Cottrell said that these services “have connected us as a Christian community and as an online community.” About 30% of Church of England congregations continue to offer a regular Church at Home service. — Melodie Woerman is an Episcopal News Service freelance reporter based in Kansas.

[Anglican Communion News Service] The secretary general of the Anglican Communion, the Rt. Rev. Anthony Poggo, was welcomed in Lae, the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea, March 21 by the Rt. Rev. Nathan Ingen, bishop of Aipo Rongo and acting primate of the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea. Poggo’s visit March 21-24 formed part of his recent tour of the Oceania region. Papua New Guinea includes five dioceses: Aipo Rongo, Dogura, New Guinea Islands, Popondota and Port Moresby. While the majority of the population identify as Christians, only 3.2% identify as Anglican, according to the 2000 census data. Poggo undertook visits around Oceania primarily to encourage the Anglican Communion and related agencies and to learn more about the Anglican church in the regions. Reflecting on his visit, Poggo said, “I have greatly enjoyed and appreciated my time in Papua New Guinea. It has been particularly valuable for me to visit churches, meet with the leadership network here and to learn more about the community-based philanthropic initiatives that are happening here regarding education and health. I thank God for the vibrant spirituality I have witnessed in the people I have met in Papua New Guinea and pray that my visit has inspired them as it has me.” After arriving at Nadzab Tomodachi Airport, Poggo was welcomed with gifts and celebration by church representatives and the Tufi Maising singing group before visiting Dennis Kabekabe Conference Center. During his time in Lae, Poggo and the four bishops of Papua New Guinea planted tree seedlings to commemorate their meeting. Across the Anglican Communion, trees are often planted as a symbol of the importance of caring for the environment, nurturing future generations and celebrating the strong connections between branches of a global Anglican Communion, rooted in Christ. Planting trees is also something that the Anglican Communion Office has been encouraging through the Communion Forest initiative, which aims to significantly increase the number of Anglican tree-growing and ecosystem conservation, protection and restoration activities around the world and to deepen care for creation within the life of the church and its members. Poggo also visited the Anglican Health Office, a body of the Anglican Health Service, and saw the good works they are doing to improve the physical, psychological, social and spiritual health and wellbeing of everyone in the communities they serve. The Anglican Health Service includes 119 facilities in Papua New Guinea, which the government helps to fund and the church builds. Most of these clinics are in rural areas where medical assistance is otherwise difficult to access and acuity levels range from rural hospitals through health centers and aid posts to village clinics. Providing for those over 15 years of age, the Adult Literacy Program in Papua New Guinea is a pilot program funded by the Anglican Mission Board of Australia, which educates adult students in English, math, social inclusion and religious education with the goal of enabling students to read and write within nine months. This program is vital for those who have not already attended school for reasons such as getting married at an early age but still wish to pursue education. Within this pilot program, there are currently three schools in Port Moresby and three in Popendetta, and the students only have to pay for their school materials — travel is covered by the program. Poggo was particularly pleased to see the project and spend time with those involved. “One of the things that I admired while I am here is the adult literacy initiatives carried out by the church,” he said. “This is an encouragement to me, personally, as someone from South Sudan, where literacy levels are very low. The program aimed at helping people learn to read and write is so important to me.” On March 23, Poggo attended a morning service of confirmation at All Souls Anglican Church in Lae. Bishops or clergy from the five dioceses of Papua New Guinea assisted with the service and welcomed the new confirmation candidates. The service included a welcome address by the acting primate and bishop of Aipo Rongo, the Rt. Rev. Nathan Ingen; a sermon by Poggo; communion and confirmation of several of the parish’s young people, who also led the prayers. Ingen said in his address, “We are truly honored to have you among us as we gather for this sacred occasion of worship, celebration and the confirmation of our candidates. Bishop Poggo, your presence here today is a great blessing to our parish, our diocese and the entire Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea. As secretary general of the Anglican Communion, you carry the important responsibility of fostering unity and strengthening the mission of the church worldwide. We are grateful for your leadership and your commitment to the growth of the Anglican family across all nations.”

[World Council of Churches] The Second Africa-Europe Ecumenical Forum on Migration took place March 17-21 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, organized by the All Africa Conference of Churches and the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe.  The forum built on the outcomes of the first forum held in Hamburg, Germany, in March 2023. A communiqué released by the forum reads, in part, “We affirm that migration is an integral part of humanity, yet it remains an area fraught with injustices. We remain steadfast in opposing the criminalization and weaponization of migration and resisting migration management policies that disregard human dignity and safety.” The forum discouraged exploitative migration practices that hinder many from experiencing the love and goodness of God. “We noted the growing frustration among a significant proportion of young Africans who are seeking every possible avenue to migrate in pursuit of employment and better living conditions,” the communiqué said. Read the communiqué here. Read the entire article here.

[Diocese of Los Angeles] For 12-year-old Messiah, the 45-mile trip from Hesperia to St. Ambrose Episcopal Church in Claremont, California, for a March 23 iftar was all about doing what God wants: “If we love God, we love people. “This is about having friends, being with family, here from a lot of places. It isn’t just about getting food,” the middle school student told the multi-faith group who gathered to observe the Muslim tradition of breaking the Ramadan fast at sunset. “It’s about basically being at peace with God,” he said, amid enthusiastic applause. Atilla Kahveci, vice president of the Pacifica Institute, an organizer of the gathering, explained that during Ramadan, a holy month of fasting, worship and community, Muslims “don’t eat or drink anything in the daytime. Then we gather to break the fast at an iftar, a community meal. We are here because we believe when the blessings are shared, it doubles, triples and quadruples.” Headquartered in Lake Forest in Orange County, the nonprofit Pacifica Institute is an Islamic organization dedicated to promoting social justice, intercultural and interreligious dialogue, peacebuilding and conflict resolution. The Rev. Jessie Turnier, St. Ambrose’s rector, who welcomed about 70 Christian, Muslim and Jewish guests, said the event grew out of the church’s interfaith partnerships, and called the iftar “a beautiful way of loving one another.” The evening began with the invitation to break the day’s fast by eating dates, an Islamic tradition emulating the example of the Prophet Muhammad. Following the call to prayer, guests were invited to a buffet-style potluck meal of salads, chicken quinoa soup, chili, eggplant moussaka, Halal meat and almond rice, cornbread, baklava, and pide, a traditional round Turkish bread topped with sesame seeds. Marianne Cordova, an associate minister at the Claremont Center for Spiritual Living and a member of the Claremont Interfaith Council, said she drew strength from the gathering. “We’re all one. We’ve got to practice what we believe, I believe that. There is strength in coming together and understanding each other.” Making connections and deepening interfaith understandings drew Zaw Lin Soe to the gathering. After moving to Claremont from Myanmar three years ago, “I have questions about other religions,” he said. “It is good to build relationships in this way.” Similarly, Moli Torres, a parishioner at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Upland, California, said joining the multicultural, multiethnic event “was like taking a mini-trip around the world. If we all believe we are all made in the image of God, what a beautiful image we are.” The Rev. Paul Colbert said hearing once again the call to prayer, reminded him of his former experiences in Sudan and Yemen; “So thank you for that. “We’re all here as those on the path seeking the divine and we all have different ways of approaching that, different disciplines,” Colbert said. “It’s a joy to be with others on the road seeking the divine presence in our midst.” Tamara, a member of St. Ambrose, said the gathering helped offset “the climate in our world right now, so based on fear. I feel that things like this dissuade that fear. I feel very blessed to be in the presence of all of you.” A passion for interfaith engagement inspired Paul Knopf to join the gathering and is motivating him to pursue similar connections on a more personal level, he said. “I’m very thankful for tonight. At our table, we have people from all over the world, breaking bread together, speaking with one another. It’s a picture of what we can do in our regular lives. “We’re all blessed to live in Southern California, with so much diversity all around us,” he added. “We can engage and connect. This is motivational for me to reach out to others that don’t come from the same background. This is a blessing for my family’s life and so many others.” The Rev. Tom Johnson, retired Claremont School of Theology professor and retired pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Covina, California, also addressed the gathering, noting that eating together, sharing stories and traditions helps to build bridges and community and to reduce stereotypes about one another. “It’s a powerful experience, a wonderful thing, to come together like this and to affirm that although we come from different backgrounds, different traditions, we have common desires,” he said. “Diversity, equality and inclusiveness is a wonderful thing.”

[Church of England] Acting to prevent global warming and biodiversity loss is the “right thing to do” and a sign of Christian compassion for those who are suffering as a result of the climate crisis, the Church of England’s lead bishop for the environment said on March 25. Speaking to a gathering of Church of England diocesan representatives, Norwich Bishop Graham Usher thanked parishes and staff for their “hard work and commitment” toward making churches net zero by 2030 and their support for churchyards to become havens for biodiversity. Both aims have been backed by the General Synod. He said the Net Zero program is already building up a “huge impetus,” resulting in savings on energy bills for churches and helping make many churches sustainable into the future. Acting to tackle climate change is the “right thing to do,” he told the gathering at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, attended by 120 diocesan environment and Net Zero officers as well as ecumenical representatives. “There is a link here through compassion with Anglicans – with all people around the world, many of whom are on the frontline of climate change and biodiversity loss,” he said. “If we truly believe that we are brothers and sisters in Christ, we should have a concern and a compassion for where biodiversity and climate change loss is impacting people’s lives.” During his speech, Usher highlighted the achievements of the Church of England’s Net Zero program. He spoke of St Peter Mancroft in Norwich, a “demonstrator” church leading the way for other churches in energy efficiency, and the example of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, where solar panels have been installed. He said that changes available to churches could range from solar panels to low cost features  such as LED lighting, both of which could make “all the difference” to a church’s carbon footprint, whether rural or urban. Usher told the conference of his experience as part of the Anglican delegation to the COP16 United Nations biodiversity conference last year in Cali, Colombia. He warned of the need to keep up pressure on governments on meeting the goals to halt climate change and biodiversity loss.“Climate change and biodiversity are two sides of the same coin,” he said. “COP16 came over very loud and clear to me of the need to hold these together. Investment in conservation and restoration and environmental protection are futile if we are going be doing nothing around climate change.” The meeting also heard from Beatrix Schlarb-Ridley, director of innovation and impact at the British Antarctic Survey, on the extent of the climate change emergency, focusing on the impact of climate change in the polar regions. In a vote last year, the General Synod backed a series of measures to promote biodiversity on Church of England land from churchyards as havens of wildlife and plants to the stewardship of agricultural and forestry land. The General Synod endorsed a plan to reach net zero carbon by 2030 at its July session in 2022. The Net Zero program’s first impact report can be read here.