Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

Worshiping God, living in community, reaching out to the world.

Category: Episcopal News Service

Episcopal News Service (ENS) offers in-depth reporting of local, regional, national and international news for Episcopalians and others interested in the church’s mission and ministry. Episcopal News Service is the official news source of the Episcopal Church.

Little evidence so far that Anglican leaders plan to join GAFCON in leaving Anglican Communion

[Episcopal News Service] The GAFCON statement’s potential impact was evident as soon as it landed October 16, 2025. It immediately provoked intense reactions in Anglican circles around the world.

The conservative Christian network, a mix of leaders from recognized Anglican provinces and breakaway groups, had announced that its primates, as the heads of their respective churches, were effectively leaving the Anglican Communion. They would reject the authority of the archbishop of Canterbury and no longer participate in, contribute to or receive assistance from the structures that have long bound together the Anglican Communion’s 42 autonomous, interdependent provinces.

The statement, titled “The Future Has Arrived,” accused senior leaders of the Anglican Communion of “the abandonment of the Scriptures” and said GAFCON’s member primates had “resolved to reorder the Anglican Communion.”

Some conservative supporters of GAFCON rejoiced at the apparent split. Other Anglicans, particularly in provinces like The Episcopal Church that have been more welcoming to LGBTQ+ Christians, reacted variously with dismay, confusion, ambivalence and uncertainty.

A week later, one lingering question is how many – if any – Anglican primates and their provinces plan to follow through with GAFCON’s call to leave the Anglican Communion. The statement outlining that plan was signed by one person, Rwanda Archbishop Laurent Mbanda, who serves as chair of GAFCON’s primate council.

Response within GAFCON

Of the GAFCON council’s other 12 members, eight represent provinces that are recognized as members of the existing Anglican Communion.

Church of Nigeria

One, the Church of Nigeria, shared the text of the letter online without additional comment. Episcopal News Service could find no evidence of any statements from the other seven provinces supporting the new GAFCON plan for disengagement outlined by Mbanda.

Church of Congo

All efforts to reach leaders of those provinces were met with silence, except for one: The Province of the Anglican Church of Congo is still part of the Anglican Communion, one of its top bishops told ENS.

“The call to disengage from the Anglican Communion needs to be made collegially through debate,” Archbishop Zacharie Masimango Katanda, who served as Congo’s primate from 2016 to 2022, said by email in response to an ENS inquiry. “The Church of Congo will not follow that call and remains a full member of the Anglican Communion, and also a member of the Global South.”

Church of Rwanda

Mbanda’s Rwanda province is one of three Anglican provinces that have long boycotted Anglican Communion meetings over theological disagreements on human sexuality, same-sex marriage, and the ordination of gay and lesbian priests and bishops. Likewise, Nigeria and Uganda had already disengaged with much of the Anglican Communion’s structure, including the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops, the Primates’ Meeting and the Anglican Consultative Council. The exit of those three provinces, therefore, would signify little change in participation with what the Anglican Communion calls its Instruments of Communion.

Other provinces on the GAFCON primate’s council

The other six Anglican provinces that are represented on GAFCON’s primates’ council are Alexandria (Egypt), Chile, Congo, Kenya, Myanmar, and South Sudan. Until now, conservative primates in those provinces, though affiliated with GAFCON, have continued to engage with their peers across the Anglican Communion at its meetings.

In addition to seeking comment from those six provinces by email and WhatsApp, ENS also reviewed their websites and social media accounts for any references to the GAFCON statement in the week since its release, but found none.

Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches

Nor has there been any public reaction from the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches, many of whose conservative leaders overlap with GAFCON’s leadership. The latest information posted to the Global South Fellowship’s website and Facebook page has been solely focused on a formation retreat underway this week in Uganda.

Response by GAFCON leadership

GAFCON, on the other hand, has been regularly promoting Mbanda’s statement on its Facebook account, with daily posts since last week.

“We give thanks for the joyful announcement approved last week by the Gafcon Primates’ Council that the Anglican Communion has been reordered as a fellowship of autonomous provinces bound together by the Scriptures and the Reformation Formularies,” an October 22 Facebook update says. “We rejoice that we have not left the Communion… we are the Communion!” (The October 16, 2025 statement said GAFCON would name the new entity the “Global Anglican Communion.”)

ENS sought comment and clarification from GAFCON’s general secretary, the Rt. Rev. Paul Donison, who is a leader in the breakaway Anglican Church in North America. ACNA was founded in 2009, and many of its early members were former Episcopalians who objected to The Episcopal Church’s stances on women’s ordination, LGBTQ+ inclusion, or both.

Donison, based at an ACNA church in Plano, Texas, had not yet responded to an October 22 phone message by the time this ENS story was published. He has spoken about Mbanda’s statement in other venues. On October 17, he published an article on the Christian website the Gospel Coalition explaining the reasons for GAFCON’s split with the Anglican Communion.

“Over the last several decades, some of the most senior leaders in the communion – particularly in the Church of England and The Episcopal Church (USA) – have embraced revisionist teachings,” Donison wrote. “These include the rejection of biblical authority in matters of marriage, sexuality and the uniqueness of Christ. Evangelicals across traditions will recognize the dynamics here: when leaders abandon Scripture as the final authority, the gospel itself is at stake.”

GAFCON responses to events

Mbanda’s statement did not specify the reason for timing this decision now, though it was issued two weeks after the Church of England announced that London Bishop Sarah Mullally would become the first female archbishop of Canterbury. The position represents a “focus of unity” for the 165-country Anglican Communion in recognition of the 42 provinces’ roots in the Church of England. She is scheduled to take office in January.

Allowing same-sex blessings in English Churches

Some of the more conservative Anglican leaders have increasingly spoken of “impaired” communion since the Church of England’s General Synod voted in 2023 to allow same-sex couples to receive blessings in England’s churches. Mullally co-chaired the group that helped draft that policy.

London Bishop Sarah Mullally was announced October 3, 2025, as the archbishop of Canterbury-designate. Photo: Anglican Communion News Service

Election of the Most Rev. Cherry Vann

Separately, in July 2025, Archbishop Cherry Vann was elected to lead the Church in Wales, becoming the first LGBTQ+ primate in the Anglican Communion. At the time, Mbanda released a statement saying Vann’s election “shatters the communion.”

Selection of the new Archbishop of Canterbury

On October 17, Mbanda alluded to Mullally’s selection as Archbishop of Canterbury in a discussion of his latest GAFCON statement with the Christian interview program, “The Pastor’s Heart.” He suggested GAFCON has been building to this moment since its founding in 2008 as the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglican Leaders.

“As we knew that we were anticipating this announcement of the archbishop of Canterbury, and knowing that we had been on a journey since 2008 with GAFCON … I think it was time to start thinking, OK, so what do some of these founding fathers think?” Mbanda said. “It was also time to say, OK, we have talked a lot. Is it a time to walk the talk?”

Mbanda did not specify who was involved in those conversations or how they may have registered their assent to his statement.

Response from leaders within the Anglican Communion

Yet even some conservative leaders within the Anglican Communion have questioned the legitimacy and prudence of declaring a break with the communion to establish a rival network with a similar name.

The Rev. Matthew Olver

“To my dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ in GAFCON: You have broken my heart,” the Rev. Matthew Olver, an Episcopal priest who serves as executive director and publisher at the Living Church Foundation, wrote in an essay on the Living Church’s website.

“Your communiqué of October 16 sounds as though you are rejecting all of us who confess the apostolic faith and are committed to a traditional witness within the Episcopal Church and in provinces throughout the communion — my heart is crushed.”

The Most Rev. Sean Rowe

Others have affirmed their commitment to the Anglican Communion, emphasizing the importance of walking together as Anglicans despite persistent differences on individual theological questions. The Episcopal Church places “great value on our continuing relationships in the Anglican Communion and on the historic role of the archbishop of Canterbury as first among equals,” Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe said last week in a written statement to ENS.

The Rt. Rev. Helen Kennedy

Bishop Helen Kennedy of the Canadian Diocese of Qu’appelle, as liaison to The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council, called GAFCON’s statement “heartbreaking” in her remarks to Executive Council on October 22 at its recent meeting.

“Making outrageous statements is not helpful,” Kennedy said. Instead, she emphasized the “very clear, very strong” response issued by the top bishops in the Anglican Church in Canada.

The Rt. Rev. Anthony Poggo

The Rt. Rev. Anthony Poggo, secretary general of the Anglican Communion and a bishop from South Sudan, said last week the Anglican Communion “is ordered by historic bonds, voluntary association” and that any changes “should be made through existing structures.” Some such reforms, known as the Nairobi-Cairo proposals, are scheduled to be discussed next year at a meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The Rt. Rev. Sarah Mullaly

Mullally has emphasized “working together in mission.” On October 3, in her first address as archbishop of Canterbury-designate, Mullally said she has witnessed local expressions of the faith in her travels around the Anglican Communion that “echoed with familiar grace” in their shared Anglican context.

“I saw something deeply distinctive, coupled with mutual understanding: a shared inheritance of history, of family of worship, sacrament and word – made real in global diversity,” Mullally said. “Anglican Churches and networks around the world working together in mission, joining their voices in advocacy for those in need.

“In an age that craves certainty and tribalism, Anglicanism offers something quieter but stronger: shared history, held in tension, shaped by prayer, and lit from within by the glory of Christ. That is what gives me hope. In our fractured and hurting world, that partnership in the Gospel could not be more vital.”

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

About Episcopal News Service

Episcopal News Service (ENS) offers in-depth reporting of local, regional, national and international news for Episcopalians and others interested in the church’s mission and ministry. Episcopal News Service is the official news source of the Episcopal Church.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

October 25, 2025
GAFCON members will leave Anglican Communion for network

[Episcopal News Service] The conservative Anglican network GAFCON, a mix of leaders from Anglican provinces and breakaway groups, released a statement October 16, 2025, saying it would disengage from the Anglican Communion’s existing deliberative bodies and create a rival to the Anglican Communion with an unspecified number of provinces.

The Future Has Arrived

Only Archbishop Laurent Mbanda of Rwanda, as chair of the network’s primates council, signed the message posted to GAFCON’s website, titled “The Future Has Arrived.” Mbanda said he was issuing the statement after a meeting with other GAFCON primates about their path forward.

In it, Mbanda said the GAFCON primates have rejected the authority of the archbishop of Canterbury, the Anglican Consultative Council, the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops and the Primates’ Meeting, the four so-called “Instruments of Communion” by which the 42 autonomous provinces of the Anglican Communion maintain their interdependence. It also says the breakaway provinces “shall not make any monetary contribution to the ACC, nor receive any monetary contribution from the ACC or its networks.”

Mbanda and his Anglican Church of Rwanda have boycotted Instruments of Communion meetings for years, as have leaders of the Anglican provinces in Nigeria and Uganda. Until now, conservative primates in other provinces, though affiliated with GAFCON, have continued to engage with their peers across the Anglican Communion at those meetings.

Unclear how many GAFCON provinces will leave

It was not clear from Mbanda’s statement how many of his fellow primates now planned to join him in forming what he said would be called the “Global Anglican Communion.” Of the members of GAFCON’s primates’ council listed on its website, nine lead provinces recognized as part of the Anglican Communion: Alexandria (Egypt), Chile, Congo, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda. The statement did not specify which of those members attended the meeting before releasing the statement.

Mbanda also did not specify the reason for timing this decision now, though he issued the statement two weeks after the Church of England announced that London Bishop Sarah Mullally would become the first female archbishop of Canterbury, a position that represents a “focus of unity” for the 85-million-member Anglican Communion in recognition of the 42 provinces’ roots in the Church of England.

Some of the communion’s more conservative provinces do not allow women to become bishops. Several of those provinces’ leaders released statements this month grieving the choice of Mullally, scheduled to take office as archbishop of Canterbury in January.

GAFCON’s also issued the latest statement, which rejects continued participation in the Anglican Consultative Council, a day after the ACC Standing Committee held its annual meeting October 13-15, 2025, in Jordan. The ACC structure welcomes representatives from all 42 provinces, a mix of bishops, other clergy and lay leaders.

Nairobi-Cairo Proposals

A scheduled discussion of possible changes by the full ACC of the Anglican Communion’s leadership structure, including the role of the archbishop of Canterbury, is on for June and July 2026 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is not clear what affect the GAFCON statement will have of what are known as the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals.

In an October 17 written statement to Episcopal News Service, the Rt. Rev. Anthony Poggo, secretary general of the Anglican Communion and a bishop from South Sudan, said the Anglican Communion “is ordered by historic bonds, voluntary association” and that any changes “should be made through existing structures.” That is why, he said, the work of the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals is important.

GAFCON was formed in 2008 in opposition to the increasingly welcoming policies toward LGBTQ+ Christians that were embraced by some Anglican provinces, including The Episcopal Church. Mbanda’s statement this week alludes to those disagreements over human sexuality, accusing more progressive Anglicans of “the abandonment of the Scriptures” and saying global Anglican leadership had “failed to uphold the doctrine and discipline of the Anglican Communion.”

Episcopal Church reaction

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe released a statement to Episcopal News Service for this story, affirming that The Episcopal Church places “great value on our continuing relationships in the Anglican Communion and on the historic role of the archbishop of Canterbury as first among equals.”

“We celebrate Bishop Sarah Mullally’s elevation to that seat and rejoice that, as the first woman to hold that role, she will bring our communion closer to the fullness of the image of God and bear witness to the breadth of God’s gifts in the service of God’s mission to the world,” Rowe said. “It is always a cause of sorrow when siblings in Christ choose to walk apart, and we grieve that some GAFCON primates have chosen to remove themselves from the Anglican Communion. We pray for their participation in God’s mission in their contexts.”

The Anglican Communion is diverse

The Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order developed the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals by upon request of the ACC at its meeting in February 2023. Leaders attended that meeting from all 42 Anglican provinces except Nigeria, Uganda and Rwanda. The release of the draft proposals was in December 2024. Poggo emphasized that all Anglican Communion primates, members of the ACC and others from Global South Fellowship of Anglicans and GAFCON have been invited to engage with the proposals in advance of next year’s ACC meeting.

“The Anglican Communion Office recognizes that in a diverse, global communion, there is a wide range of theological and doctrinal perspectives. There are also deeply held differences, disagreements, and divisions, which strain and wound the Communion,” said Poggo, who also shared a pastoral letter on October 17 with Anglican provinces. “The Nairobi-Cairo Proposals face these divisions directly, not to resolve them, but to encourage all Anglicans to ‘make room for one another.’

“Jesus prayed that ‘they may all be one’ (John 17.11). To persist in – imperfect, impaired – communion is to commit to work at this task together, and not apart.”

David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. You can reach him at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

About Episcopal News Service

Episcopal News Service (ENS) offers in-depth reporting of local, regional, national and international news for Episcopalians and others interested in the church’s mission and ministry. Episcopal News Service is the official news source of the Episcopal Church.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

October 18, 2025
Episcopalians call for release of church member arrested by ICE

[Episcopal News Service] Episcopalians in the Diocese of Chicago are calling for the immediate release of a church member who was detained last month by federal immigration officials and is being held in a facility in Michigan.

The detainee, Willian Alberto Giménez González, has been active at St. Paul and the Redeemer Episcopal Church on Chicago’s South Side since Fall 2023. The church is hosting a prayer vigil October 7, 2025, for González – and for all “our immigrant neighbors” – as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conduct raids and detain residents across the Chicago area.

“We believe that Willian’s detention is unjust, and that his immediate release would benefit not just Willian and his family but also our community and our country,” St. Paul and the Redeemer said in a written statement, González is an asylum-seeker who had recently received a work permit. “Yet ICE arrested him anyway and quickly moved him across state lines.”

How González was detained

González was taken into custody September 12, 2025, during an ICE traffic stop. His attorney told an American Prospect reporter that González, at the time of the incident, was taking his wife to get a haircut in a largely Latino neighborhood southwest of downtown Chicago. After being held briefly at an ICE facility in suburban Chicago, he was taken to a different ICE facility in Baldwin, Michigan, about 70 miles north of Grand Rapids.

“ICE is circumventing laws and processes to create terror in communities of people seeking a better life, and we are joining with Christians and others who feel spiritually compelled to call for justice and mercy,” St. Paul and the Redeemer said in its statement.

Immigration enforcement by ICE

ICE has taken an increasingly aggressive approach toward immigration enforcement in Chicago, the United States’ third largest city. It is part of the Trump administration’s efforts to ramp up arrests and deportations. It also fulfill a campaign promise of sharply reducing both legal and illegal immigration.

Early last month, the Department of Homeland Security announced it was launching a major immigrant enforcement action in Chicago that it dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz.” Since then, local officials, Democratic state legislators, immigrant advocates and residents have accused the Trump administration of heavy-handed tactics that have sometimes involved detentions of people with no criminal records or immigration violations.

More than 1,000 immigrants have been arrested in Chicago in the past month. It includes 37 on September 30 in an early-morning ICE raid that targeted one apartment building on Chicago’s South Side. Residents reported fearing they were under siege by a military-style operation. Agents reportedly landed on the building from helicopters, then went door to door making arrests.

President Donald Trump has vowed to further escalate the crackdown. He sent troops, including the Texas National Guard, into Chicago and other Democrat-led cities. He said reinforcements are needed to protect federal property and employees. After federal agents shot and injured a woman in Chicago on October 4, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called Chicago a “war zone.”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, has accused the Trump administration of manufacturing a crisis and then making it worse. The ICE agents in Chicago were indiscriminately “picking up people who are brown and Black and then checking their credentials,” Pritzker said in an Oct. 5 interview with CNN. “They are the ones that are making it a war zone.”

Support from the Diocese of Chicago

The Diocese of Chicago has been active in helping immigrant communities and their supporters across northern Illinois respond to the presence of ICE and threats of arrest. A statement released September 10 by a group of diocesan ministry leaders affirmed that Episcopalians in Chicago were “standing in solidarity with immigrants and asylum-seekers.”

“We urge all diocesan churches, clergy, and laity to get involved as we redouble our efforts to welcome the stranger, protect the vulnerable and respect the dignity of every human being,” they said. They referenced an earlier pastoral letter from Chicago Bishop Paula Clark calling on Episcopalians to support “our immigrant siblings.”

“Anxiety and apprehension are rampant in our communities, especially those of people of color, who are affected by these threats. People are afraid to go to church, the grocery store, or even to work,” Clark said in her August 1 letter. “This is not merely about immigration – it is about justice, dignity, and the soul of our diocese.”

Support for González

The diocese has invited all members to join the prayer vigil at St. Paul and the Redeemer. It starts at 7 pm on October 7, in support of immigrants like González, the parishioner being held by ICE in Michigan.

González “is a faithful participant in our worship and gives financially to the church every week. He has helped cultivate the earth in our food garden and shared dinners in our homes. We pray and sing together,” the congregation said in its written statement protesting his detention. “Every Sunday we receive the sacrament of Holy Communion together recognizing that we are God’s beloved children created in God’s image, and all have a place at God’s Table.”

The National Day Laborer Organizing Network has raised $5,800 to support González through a GoFundMe campaign. The Diocese of Chicago also worked with the Diocese of the Great Lakes in Michigan to arrange for González to receive a pastoral visit with a priest at the facility.

His next immigration court date is October 8.

“I find myself surprised by all you have done to support me,” González said in a written statement released by the diocese. “It fills me up with hope and I ask God to help me get out of this place. I’m grateful to the church, from the bottom of my heart.”

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

About Episcopal News Service

Episcopal News Service (ENS) offers in-depth reporting of local, regional, national and international news for Episcopalians and others interested in the church’s mission and ministry. Episcopal News Service is the official news source of the Episcopal Church.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

Simplified Summary
🕊️ Church Asks for Release of Member Taken by ICE. Willian Alberto Giménez González goes to church at St. Paul and the Redeemer in Chicago. He was taken by immigration officers (ICE) on September 12 while driving his wife. He had a work permit and was asking to stay in the U.S. safely. ICE moved him to a jail in Michigan. 🙏 Church Response. His church says this is unfair and wants him released. They held a prayer event on October 7 to support him and other immigrants. Church leaders say Willian helps the church and is part of their family. 🚨 ICE Actions in Chicago. ICE has been arresting many immigrants in Chicago. Over 1,000 people were taken in one month. Some raids were very scary, with helicopters and soldiers. The president says this is to protect people, but others say it’s hurting families. ❤️ Support for Willian. The church raised money to help him. He got a visit from a priest while in jail. His next court date was October 8. Willian said he feels hopeful and thankful for the church’s love.

October 9, 2025
Bishops visit Episcopal mission sites in Dominican Republic

[Episcopal News Service — Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic] Episcopal bishops and their spouses spent the second day of their fall gathering visiting different missions operated by the Santo Domingo-based Diocese of the Dominican Republic. This included its cathedral and nearby schools.

The missions visited by the 82 bishops and 38 spouses on September 11, 2025, are among the Province IX diocese’s 67 congregations serving 5,000 Episcopalians and the local communities.

Iglesia Episcopal San Andrés

“We feel highly rejoiced with the bishops’ visit here in the Dominican Republic,” the Rev. P. Obispo Encarnación, vicar of Iglesia Episcopal San Andrés in Santo Domingo, told Episcopal News Service.

San Andrés is connected to the Colegio Episcopal San Andrés, an early childhood and elementary school. The bishops who visited San Andrés were greeted by students dancing in school uniforms and Dominican folk dresses. While they toured the school, students in one classroom sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” and welcomed them in Spanish and English. Outside, more students assembled for a special dance performance for the bishops. Some students gave presentations on what they’re learning in school, such as Dominican history and music.

Lexington Bishop Mark Van Koevering says hello to students at the Colegio Episcopal San Andrés Sept. 11 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The students greeted visiting bishops with song and dance. Photo: Shireen Korkzan/Episcopal News Service

Catedral Episcopal de la Epifanía

Also in Santo Domingo, the capital, some bishops visited the Catedral Episcopal de la Epifanía – Cathedral of the Epiphany. They were greeted with live clarinet, violin and organ performances. Chicago Bishop Paula Clark and Arkansas Bishop John Harmon told ENS that they were impressed by the cathedral’s community outreach despite its small size.

“[The congregation is] meeting the needs of the people according to the Gospel,” Clark said.

Harmon said he was surprised to learn that Epiphany had a woman dean “long before” any Episcopal seminary in the United States had a woman dean.

“It shows that they have been committed to theological education for a very long time in the Caribbean despite limited resources,” he said. “they’re doing great work – doing a lot with a little.”

Iglesia Episcopal San Esteban

In San Pedro de Marcorís, some bishops visited the Iglesia Episcopal San Esteban. It also has an elementary school and the Clínica Esperanza y Caridad, a medical center.

The Rt. Rev. Austin Rios, the San Francisco-based Diocese of California’s first Latino bishop, told ENS that visiting San Esteban reminded him of his experience with ministries when he lived in Rome, Italy. For 12 years he was the rector of St. Paul’s Within-the-Walls Episcopal Church. He said San Esteban’s ministry “feels very similar” to the ministerial work being done in Italy.

“I felt a lot of resonance … I am so thankful to see the joy and also the resilience that comes with doing this kind of ministry and seeing how it’s affecting people’s lives,” Rios said. “The great people we encountered at St. Esteban and in the Dominican Republic have been incredibly hospitable. It’s a wonderful gift to be here with the rest of the House of Bishops.”

Students at the Colegio Episcopal San Andrés in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, greet visiting bishops Sept. 11 with posters, live musical performances and presentations. Photo: Shireen Korkzan/Episcopal News Service

Iglesia Episcopal San José

In Boca Chica, a popular beach town for tourists, students at Colegio Episcopal San José also greeted visiting bishops with live musical performances. The elementary Iglesia Episcopal San José school is part of the Iglesia Episcopal San José. The church also operates a retirement home for the community.

While touring the San José church, retirement home and school, the bishops listened to a priest preach about diversity in the global church and being “united in we all share the same blood in Jesus Christ.”

Minnesota Bishop Craig Loya described his experience visiting San José to ENS as “nourishing.”

House of Bishops meeting in the Dominican Republic

This September 10-15, 2025, meeting is one of two annual in-person House of Bishops gatherings. The fall meetings occur during non-General Convention years and, as is the case this year, usually include bishops’ spouses. The fall 2025 meeting is also notably the Most Rev. Sean Rowe’s second House of Bishops as presiding bishop.

“I think one of the advantages and the gifts of convening the House of Bishops in [the Dominican Republic] is it’s a way of reminding us all that we really do have this global, diverse church, and that is really part of our great gift as a church,” Loya said. “We’re grateful to be here.”

The House of Bishops gathering is underway through September 15, 2025. The bishops will continue business and affinity group meetings and discussions, plenaries and other listening sessions. On September 13, the Diocese of the Dominican Republic will host a special Eucharist. Dominican Republic Bishop Moisés Quezada Mota will celebrate with Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe preaching. The local Episcopalians and bishops will engage in fellowship following the worship service.

Encarnación said the bishops interacting with local Episcopalians while in the Dominican Republic will further increase global unity in The Episcopal Church. “For us here in the Dominican Republic, this is very important because we feel supported by all the bishops worldwide.”

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

September 12, 2025
Church leaders call for release of Yeonsoo Go

[Episcopal News Service] The Diocese of New York is calling for prayers and sharing news stories, statements and advocacy efforts on social media in response to the arrest and detainment of Yeonsoo Go, the 20-year-old daughter of an Episcopal priest, who is from South Korea.

Yeonsoo Go’s mother is the Rev. Kyrie Kim, is a priest in the diocese. She went to a routine visa hearing on July 31, 2025, at Federal Plaza in Manhattan as part of the process to renew her visa. Her visa is set to expire in December. An immigration judge scheduled Go’s next hearing for October. After Go left the hearing, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested her outside the building. They placed her in federal detention nearby before relocating her to a facility in Louisiana. ICE is accusing Go of “overstaying her visa.” She has been placed in expedited deportation proceedings, according to Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security.

“[Go’s] detention represents a disturbing ans unacceptable escalation of enforcement against individuals in good standing with pending immigration cases,” the Diocese of New York said in a Facebook post promoting an August 2, 2025, interfaith vigil “calling for Yeonsoo’s immediate release and for broader accountability in how ICE is targeting immigrants, students, and family members.” The diocese hosted the public vigil in collaboration with the Interfaith Center of New York and the New York Immigration Coalition.

Yeonsoo Go’s immigration history

Go moved to the United States in 2021 from South Korea on a religious worker’s dependent visa, known as the R-2. She graduated from Scarsdale High School in Westchester County, New York, in 2024. Now Go is majoring in pre-pharmacy at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Throughout her freshman year at Purdue, Go was “very active” in campus ministry,” according to the Rev. Hilary Cooke, chaplain of the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, Purdue’s Episcopal campus ministry.

“Yeonsoo was involved in all sorts of outreach activities. She raised money for Riley Children’s Hospital during Purdue’s dance marathon, and when I last saw her in May, she was helping with Girls on the Run,” Cooke told Episcopal News Service. “Yeonsoo is always willing to help people in need – always kind and caring.”

Indianapolis Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows told ENS in an Aug. 4 written statement that Go’s “illegal detention” has “shaken us deeply.”

“[Yeonsoo Go] is a cherished member of our diocesan family, the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, the West Lafayette community, and the wider Church – and we are gravely concerned for her well-being,” Baskerville-Burrows said. “The Diocese of Indianapolis has long stood with immigrant families, and we will continue to do so now, as we pray, act, and advocate for her release. We will not look away; we will stand with Yeon-Soo until she is safely home.”

Immigrants in ICE custody

As of August 1, 2025, 56,579 immigrants are in ICE custody. This is according to the latest available data compiled by NBC News.

President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to deport undocumented immigrants and immigrants with criminal histories. However, ICE arrested and deported many immigrants since Trump took office in January were in the United States legally and have no criminal background. Go has no criminal record, according to news reports.

Since January, ICE and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have been arresting immigrants at courthouses, workplaces and other public and private places nationwide. In the New York City area, more than half of the detained immigrants arrested by ICE had gone to federal immigration offices or immigration courts for routine and mandated appearances. This is according to federal data shared by the New York Times. Between January and late June, ICE arrested at least 2,365 immigrants in metro New York.

Interfaith leaders and state and local officials plan to host another community rally and vigil event for Go. They scheduled this on August 7, 2025, at 5 p.m. Eastern in Scarsdale at Chase Park. The Diocese of New York’s Episcopal Asian Supper Table, or EAST, and other leaders and Episcopal organizations are promoting the event on social media.

Episcopal Church immigration information resources

To help Episcopalians track updates on U.S. immigration policy and available resources, The Episcopal Church’s Office of Government Relations and Episcopal Migration Ministries host 30-minute virtual updates Tuesdays from 1-1:30 p.m. Eastern.

Episcopal Migration Ministries also hosts an Episcopal Migration Response Network. That typically meets every fourth Wednesday of the month via Zoom. This discusses and shares Christian formation and worship resources, advocacy actions and more.

The Episcopal Church also maintains an immigration action toolkit and other resources available online.

Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. Reached her at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

August 4, 2025
Calls for release of De Los Santos detained after asylum hearing

[Episcopal News Service] On the same day the daughter of an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of New York was arrested and detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements agents outside Federal Plaza in Manhattan, Elizabeth “Ketty” De Los Santos was also arrested in the same place and is now being detained in a facility in Louisiana.

The 59-year-old grandmother from Peru is a parishioner of St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in White Plains. She went to a routine asylum hearing on July 31, 2025, at Federal Plaza. Her arrest by ICE agents was after leaving the hearing.

“[De Los Santos] was following the rules. Showing up to continue her case,” the Rev. Este Gardner, rector of St. Bartholomew’s, wrote on the parish’s Facebook page on August 4, 2025. “She is now in a detention center in Louisiana. They sleep on the floor. The conditions are terrible. There is constant pressure to sign self-deportation papers, which she is sorely tempted to do.”

Why De Los Santos seeks asylum

De Los Santos fled to the United States from Peru after her bakery business was extorted. The extortioners threatened to kill her when she couldn’t pay them enough money, according to the Facebook post.

Asylum-seekers, like De Los Santos, and refugees leave their homes for a variety of reasons. This includes but not limited to war, violence and persecution over race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. Seeking asylum in the United States is legal. As of December 31, 2024, 1,446,908 people have open asylum claims in the United States, according to the latest data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The federal government’s backlog in U.S. immigration courts is at 3,830,855 pending cases as of June 30, according to the latest numbers from the Executive Office for Immigration Review.

Although people often use the terms migrants and asylum-seekers interchangeably, not all migrants are asylum-seekers. Asylum-seekers ask for protection from persecution or violence before legal recognition as refugees. They can apply for work authorization while their asylum application is pending.

Prayer vigil held for De Los Santos and Go

The Diocese of New York held a prayer vigil on August 2, 2025, outside Federal Plaza calling for the immediate release of De Los Santos and Yeonsoo Go, a visa holder from South Korea and an incoming sophomore at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. ICE released Go from custody on August 4.

“We showed up … for our sisters and for thousands we don’t know. And we will keep praying, keep coming back, keep demanding justice for them all,” the Rev. Stephanie Spellers, canon-in-residence at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Midtown Manhattan, wrote in an August 2 Facebook post.

Mary Rothwell Davis, an immigration attorney for the Diocese of New York, said in a live August 4 interview on CNN that De Los Santos and Go were on the same bus heading to a nearby airport to fly to Louisiana for detainment at ICE’s Richwood Correction Center in Monroe. The bus drove past the vigil en route to the airport.

“They saw themselves being supported but also felt themselves being torn away from their community,” Davis said.

Number of immigrants in ICE custody

As of August 1, 56,579 immigrants are in ICE custody, according to the latest available data compiled by NBC News.

Since President Donald Trump took office on January 20, 2025, ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have been arresting immigrants at courthouses, workplaces and other public and private places nationwide. In the New York City area, agents arrested more than half of the detained immigrants, like De Los Santos and Go, after going to federal immigration offices or immigration courts for routine and mandated appearances, according to data shared by the New York Times. Between January and late June, ICE and CBP has arrested 2,365 immigrants in metro New York.

The Diocese of New York said in an August 4 Facebook post that it “will continue to fight for Ketty’s release, along with so many others who remain voiceless.”

Spellers echoed a similar sentiment.

“Americans, please understand: Due process means nothing here. Justice, truth the Constitution – they mean nothing here. What’s operative is a blank check and free rein for ICE to illegally terrorize and disappear the most vulnerable among us,” Spellers said in her Facebook post. “If you love America, if you follow Jesus, please stand against this evil. Now.”

Resources

The Episcopal Church provides information to track updates on U.S. immigration policy and available resources.

The Episcopal Church’s Office of Government Relations and Episcopal Migration Ministries host 30-minute virtual updates Tuesdays from 1-1:30 p.m. Eastern.

Episcopal Migration Ministries also hosts an Episcopal Migration Response Network. That typically meets every fourth Wednesday of the month via Zoom. This discusses and share Christian formation and worship resources, advocacy actions and more.

The Episcopal Church also maintains an immigration action toolkit and other resources available online.

Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. Reached her at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

August 4, 2025
Reflections on Jonathan Daniels’ martyrdom 60 years ago
[Episcopal News Service — Dyer, Indiana] Nearly 60 years after Jonathan Myrick Daniels was killed by a white special deputy sheriff from Lowndes County, Alabama, hundreds of Episcopalians – including clergy, seminarians and lay people – and civil rights activists will gather and march in Hayneville to commemorate the Episcopal seminarian and other martyrs of the Civil Rights Movement in the state.

“Jonathan’s actions were very much an act of faith, there was no doubt about it,” Richard Morrisroe, a white former Catholic priest from Chicago, Illinois, who witnessed Daniels’ martyrdom, told Episcopal News Service during an August 5, 2025, in-person interview here.

Like Daniels, Morrisroe was a civil rights activist. He walked with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Chicago and in Selma. Today, Morrisroe is 86 years old and lives with his wife, Sylvia Morrisroe, in East Chicago, Indiana.

Pilgrimage to Hayneville

Since 1998, the Diocese of Alabama has honored Daniels by organizing an annual pilgrimage to Hayneville with support from the Pensacola, Florida-based Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast. The pilgrimage usually takes place on or around Daniels’ feast day, August 14 in The Episcopal Church.

“Even before the pilgrimage started, people from the Southern Poverty Law Center’s headquarters in Montgomery and locals did different things to honor Jonathan,” Morrisroe said. “The pilgrimage in the way that it is now is a very good thing.”

August 9, 2025, is the scheduled date for this year’s pilgrimage. However, a group of youth pilgrims will gather the evening before at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Montgomery.

Also, some pilgrims from Episcopal Divinity School will gather the evening before at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Montgomery for a special dinner. Ruby Sales, the person Daniels shielded from gunfire, will be the guest speaker. Morrisroe also was scheduled to speak at the dinner, but he’s unable to travel due to health issues.

After the dinner, Episcopal Divinity School will host the public “Walk With Me” vigil commemorating the 60th anniversary of Daniels’ martyrdom at St. John’s. The Rev. Kelly Brown Douglas, canon theologian of Washington National Cathedral, will speak. Ashley M. Jones, Alabama’s poet laureate, also will speak at the vigil.

On the 9th, the pilgrims will gather at the Lowndes County Courthouse Square and march to the following:
- The jail where Daniels, Morrisroe, and other arrested civil rights activists were held.
- The site where Daniels was later killed.
- The courtroom where his killer was acquitted.
After the procession, the pilgrims will gather inside the courthouse for a worship service. Former Presiding Bishop Michael Curry will preach.

Daniels’ martyrdom shaped Morrisroe’s life

Morrisroe – who also was shot by the same man who killed Daniels – said his shooting and Daniels’ martyrdom have greatly shaped his life.

“We knew going in that there was a risk of violence, but I never expected to actually get shot and to witness someone getting killed being part of the Civil Rights Movement,” Morrisroe said.

Richard Morrisroe is a former Catholic priest and civil rights activist. On Aug. 20, 1965, he and Jonathan Myrick Daniels, an Episcopal seminarian, were shot after shielding two Black teenage girls from gunfire outside of Varner’s Cash Store in Hayneville, Alabama. Morrisroe survived, but Daniels died. Daniels is designated as a martyr in The Episcopal Church. Photo: Courtesy of Richard Morrisroe

What happened that day

Daniels, a white 26-year-old originally from Keene, New Hampshire, was a seminarian at the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which today is Episcopal Divinity School based in New York City. While a seminarian, he was actively involved in civil rights work. In 1965, he met Morrisroe at the ninth annual Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Birmingham, which took place August 9-13.

After the conference, on August 14, Daniels and Morrisroe joined a group of protesters in Fort Deposit to picket whites-only stores. Following arrest and transport in a garbage truck, all protestors went to a jail without air conditioning in Hayneville, less than 25 miles southwest of Montgomery.

After release from jail on August 20, Daniels and Morrisroe accompanied two Black teenage protesters, Sales and Joyce Bailey, to nearby Varner’s Cash Store to purchase sodas.

“It was late August in Alabama. I remember it was very, very hot that day,” Morrisroe said.

As the group neared the store, Tom Coleman confronted them and attempted to shoot the teenagers. Daniels shielded Sales from Coleman’s shotgun blast, taking the fatal wound himself. Morrisroe grabbed Bailey and they ran off together. He survived his shot in the back. Morrisroe then spent several years relearning how to walk and coping with post-traumatic stress disorder.

What happened to Morrisroe

“I remember going to Montgomery Baptist Hospital in a hearse. Jonathan was below me, lying dead, and I was alive in a kind of gurney or something,” Morrisroe said. “They dropped me off at the emergency room, and I waited there for about, maybe an hour-and-a-half in the hearse without much attention. …A Catholic priest from that area came in and anointed me and convinced a military doctor – Dr. Charles Cox – to put together a group of six doctors. They spent 11 hours keeping me alive as they removed the bullet that had landed in my spine.”

Morrisroe eventually transferred to a hospital in Oak Park, Illinois, where he remained hospitalized until February 1966. While hospitalized, he missed Coleman’s trial at the Lowndes County Courthouse. An all-white grand jury acquitted Coleman of manslaughter charges.

“The closest I ever got to interacting with Tom Coleman since the shooting was when my daughter went down to Lowndes County with some nuns who had an outreach ministry not too far from Hayneville,” said Morrisroe. He left the priesthood in 1972 after years of therapy recovering from the injuries he suffered from Coleman’s gunshot. Then Morrisroe worked in city planning and in academia until he retired. “Some people pointed out his house to her. She was tempted to knock on his door and identify herself, but she never did that. And then he died a couple of years later.”

Daniel’s addition to the Episcopal calendar

At the 1991 General Convention in Phoenix, Arizona, Morrisroe testified in favor of Daniels’ sainthood in front of the House of Bishops. Typical observance of feast days is on the saints’ death anniversaries. Morrisroe said August 14 – the day of Daniels’ arrest – was designated Daniels’ feast day instead of the 20th because August 20 is already observed as the Feast of St. Bernard of Clairvaux.

Morrisroe told ENS that when he met Daniels at the conference, he didn’t expect their lives would be forever changed in the coming days.

“Everything Daniels did was rooted in his faith – I can’t stress it enough.” Morrisroe said.

Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. Reached her at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.
August 4, 2025
Council of Nicaea’s decisions continue to impact today’s church
[Episcopal News Service] When some 200 bishops and the hundreds of others who accompanied them arrived at the town of Nicaea in modern-day Turkey in 325, they had before them two tasks:
- Define Jesus’ nature in relationship to God.
- Establish a common date when Christians around the world would celebrate Easter.
A variety of 1,700th anniversary resources are available:
- The World Council of Churches
- The Church of England
- The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
What happened at Nicaea

While the latter task when to celebrate Easter still is part of ongoing discussions, the assembled bishops at the first ecumenical council of the Christian church hammered out a description of Jesus. 1,700 years later, that description of Jesus remains part of the Nicene Creed. The Episcopal Church says that a statement of faith on Sundays and other major feast days .

What the bishops did was to define “what we mean when we say God,” the Rev. Kara Slade, told Episcopal News Service. She is a theologian who is part of the Episcopal chaplaincy at Princeton University, told Episcopal News Service.

And just as each sport has a governing body that sets the rules, she said the Council of Nicaea established “the language for what we as Christians, ecumenically, mean when we say God, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” It also is a recitation of “the Good News, of who God is for us.”

Marking the anniversary in the Episcopal Church

Events marking the 1,700th anniversary have taken place this year across The Episcopal Church. For example, on January 19, 2025, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City helped kick off events marking the anniversary year with an Evensong service. The then-dean, the Very Rev. Patrick Malloy, told ENS the church “was chartered specifically to focus on Christian unity” and thus was selected for a service during the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

More recently, Slade offered a lecture on the creed at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on June 15, 2025, part of an ongoing series the cathedral is presenting, with additional lectures later this year. Oklahoma Bishop Poulson Reed also offered his own reflections.

Wisconsin Bishop Matthew Gunter offered a series of written teachings about the Nicene Creed to his diocese in June 2025.

Why the Council of Nicaea happened

Back in the fourth century, the Roman Emperor Constantine, who only 12 years earlier had become a Christian, called, paid for and attended the Council of Nicaea. The Rev. Rebecca Lyman, professor emerita of history at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California, told ENS by email that he did this “to ensure the end of Christian quarreling in the Eastern [Roman] Empire and thus pray for the stability of his reign.”

The quarrel centered on how the church should described the relationship between Jesus the Son and God the Father, especially considering its inheritance of the Jewish belief in monotheism. Arius, a presbyter in Alexandria, publicly preached that God created Jesus, while stating that he was of a different nature than any other part of creation. Many others, who objected to his description of Jesus, considered Arius a heretic.

Lyman, in entries she wrote about the Council of Nicaea for the St. Andrews Encyclopedia of Theology, noted, “After weeks of negotiation, the council succeeded in producing a common theological statement to bring unity—or at least stabilize conflict—among the bishops.”

Results of the Council of Nicaea

Icon of the Council of Nicaea, with the condemned Arius in the bottom, from the Mégalo Metéoron Monastery in Greece. (Photo: Jjensen, via Wikimedia)

That statement, which forms much of today’s Nicene Creed, described Jesus as “the Son of God, begotten from the Father, only begotten, that Is from the substance of the Father; God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father…”.

But, as Lyman wrote to ENS, “It took 50 years and several theological moves to have the creed (with slight modifications) accepted by the Eastern and Western church.”

What the bishops didn’t say much about was the Holy Spirit, since at that time it wasn’t as debated as the nature of Jesus. The second ecumenical council in 381, the Council of Constantinople, added language about the Spirit and its co-divinity with the Father and Son to the creed. It sometimes now is referred to as the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed.

What resulted in the fourth century from these two councils, Lyman said, was “the painful construction of the doctrine of the Trinity.”

In his “Commentary on the American Prayer Book,” the late Rev. Marion Hatchett said the first time the Nicene Creed was used in connection with the Eucharist likely was in the late fifth or early sixth century.

Filioque (and the Son) added to the creed

In the sixth century, what would become a rift between the Eastern church based in Constantinople, and the Western church based in Rome, took place with the insertion of a statement about the Holy Spirit into the creed by the Council of Toledo, Spain, in 589. Until then, the creed stated that the Holy Spirit “proceeds from the Father.” The council inserted “and the Son” after the word “Father,” an addition known today as the filioque clause. The Western church accepted this insertion. The Eastern church does not recognize it.

The council did establish a single date for Easter—the first Sunday after the full moon following the spring equinox. However, that unanimity was in doubt after 1582. Pope Gregory XIII created a new calendar, called the Gregorian calendar in his own honor. That calendar adjusted the Julian calendar to correct how it counted the length of a year. Western churches adopted this Gregorian calculation. Many Eastern churches kept to the old Julian calculation. This can result in Easter varying between the two dates by as much as five weeks.

The impact of the Nicene Creed today

Slade said that the creed remains important for Episcopalians because “it gets right to the heart of what we’re doing as Christians. It’s the summary of the Christian faith.”

She is aware that for many, reciting the Nicene Creed may not hold their full attention. “Maybe you’re still thinking about the sermon” that comes right before it. “Maybe you’re thinking ahead to the Eucharist or to who you have to say hello to at the Peace.”

But paraphrasing the theologian Augustine, she said, “When you say your creed, render it back to God.” Doing that gives worshipers a chance to reaffirm it as “a statement of Good News” and an acknowledgement of who God is.

Importance for unity

The Rev. Margaret Rose, The Episcopal Church’s ecumenical and interreligious deputy to the presiding bishop, told ENS that the Nicene Creed was a topic of conversation at the June meeting of the World Council of Churches Central Committee, of which she is a member, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

One of the things they discussed was who wasn’t at the Council of Nicaea. “There were no women,” Rose noted, even though Paul in Galatians 3:28 “said in Christ, ‘there is neither male nor female.’”

The creed remains important to Christians today, Rose said, “because it was about the unity of the church.” For her, in defining the nature of God as a relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit, it shows “the Trinity as community and is a model for who we are together.”

Basis of unity

When The Episcopal Church was establishing how it would engage in relationships with other churches, the House of Bishops in 1886 developed a four-fold framework for ecumenical discussion, with one of the elements being acceptance of “the Nicene Creed as the rule of faith.” When the Lambeth Conference of 1888 reaffirmed that framework, it became known as the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral.

The Episcopal Church and eight partner churches has this as the basis of full-communion relationships between them. This includes the latest, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, signed with the Episcopal Church on June 7, 2025.

Common date for Easter

The question of one Easter date for all Christians is again under discussion. This is, in part, because the dates for Eastern and Western Christians happened to coincide in 2017 and in 2025). They will again in 2028, 2031 and 2034.

Earlier this year, the late Pope Francis reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church’s willingness to accept a proposal for a common Easter date for all Christians.

Filioque clause (and the Son)

In 1988, the Lambeth Conference attempted to address the centuries of disunity caused by the filioque clause when it recommended to provinces of the Anglican Communion omit the clause in future liturgical revisions that include the Nicene Creed.

The Episcopal Church’s 1994 General Convention adopted a resolution to omit that the clause “at the next revision of the Book of Common Prayer.” Recent actions by General Convention make such a revision unlikely in the near future.

In 2018, General Convention authorized creation of the Task Force on Liturgical and Prayer Book Revision, and the 2022 convention directed the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music “to continue the work of liturgical and Prayer Book revision.”

The most recent General Convention in 2024 adopted a constitutional change that defines the Book of Common Prayer to include authorized liturgical materials that aren’t printed in prayer books in use.

The Book of Common Prayer has not undergone a full-scale revision since 1979. That process, to revise the 1928 version, began in 1967.

— Melodie Woerman is an Episcopal News Service freelance reporter based in Kansas.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.
July 25, 2025
Navajoland calls for prayers as Oak Ridge Fire continues to burn through Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona

[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Church in Navajoland is calling for prayers as a wildfire that sparked June 28, 2025, on the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona continues to burn. The wildfire, called the Oak Ridge Fire, has so far burned 10,623 acres and is 0% contained.

“Our church remains open for prayer and emotional support by those impacted by the fire,” the communications office for the Farmington, New Mexico-based diocese wrote in a July 1 update on Navajoland’s website. “We invite anyone in need of comfort or connection to join us in prayer.”

The Navajo Nation

The Navajo Nation is the largest Native American tribe by both land and tribal enrollment. With the exception of Colorado, its reservation occupies a large portion of the Four Corners region. This includes portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico and southeastern Utah.

The cause of the Oak Ridge Fire is unknown. Officials have confirmed that it was human-caused, possibly by wood haulers. It ignited 8 miles southwest of Window Rock, Navajo Nation’s capital,

Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren declared a state of emergency on June 29.

People affected by the Oak Ridge Fire

So far, 300-500 people, including some Episcopalians in the diocese, have evacuated their homes, and 508 firefighters are on the ground.

“We also want to express our sincere gratitude to the firefighters and first responders who work tirelessly around the clock to keep our communities safe,” the update said.

Navajo Nation Animal is also sheltering pets and livestock. Some Navajoland Episcopalians’ sheep camps have been affected by the fire, according to the update.

Good Shepherd Mission, an Episcopal church in Fort Defiance, Arizona, 6.7 miles north of Window Rock, is closest to the wildfire.

Shelters in Fort Defiance and Ganado are providing food, water and emotional support services to evacuees.

The Episcopal Church in Navajoland’s website will post updates as more information becomes available.

Episcopal News Service

Episcopal News Service (ENS) offers in-depth reporting of local, regional, national and international news for Episcopalians and others interested in the church’s mission and ministry. ENS is the official news source of the Episcopal Church.

Church of the Redeemer

Welcome to Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. We are a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

July 3, 2025

Spring forward this Sunday, March 8, 2026. Daylight saving time starts.

Stop by The Hangar at Kenmore Town Square anytime between 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm for Ashes to Go on Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2025.

3rd Sunday in Lent (Year A), March 8, 2026. Services at 8:00 am (no music) and 10:30 (music). Christian education for children and adults at 9:15 am. Spring forward one hour for the start of Daylight Saving Time.