Message from Bishop Kym: Pentecost Blessings, God's Spirit Among Us

Greetings, beloved in Christ. I hope that you are well on this day. This past Sunday, the church celebrated the Feast of Pentecost. That is our celebration of God’s gift of the Holy Spirit, our celebration of God’s continued presence in and among us in the here and now. For much of my life, I was convinced that we could only experience the Holy Spirit in hindsight. When we looked back on our life, we could see the places where the Holy Spirit showed up, where the Holy Spirit acted. And in recent years, I have been working hard on my own spiritual development, to be present, to be attentive to the Holy Spirit moving here and now.

Acting faithfully in troubling times: A letter from
Presiding Bishop Rowe

Dear people of God in The Episcopal Church:

I am writing to you from Geneva, where I am meeting with global partners at the World Council of Churches and the United Nations Refugee Agency. As we have discussed how our institutions might act faithfully and boldly in these turbulent times, I have been reflecting on how we Episcopalians can respond to what is unfolding around us as followers of the Risen Christ whose first allegiance is to the kingdom of God, not to any nation or political party.

The events of the last several days lend urgency to this spiritual challenge. Earlier this week, President Trump’s executive order banning or restricting travel from 19 countries went into effect. This order impacts countries that are home to dioceses of The Episcopal Church and many of our Anglican Communion partners, and I have written to the bishops and primates in those countries to express our concern.

The unwarranted deployment of the National Guard and U.S. Marine Corps on the streets of Los Angeles also signals a dangerous turn. As the bishops of California have written, these military deployments risk escalating the confrontations unnecessarily and set a dangerous precedent for future deployments that heighten tensions rather than resolve them. As Christians committed to strive for justice and peace among all people, we know that there is a better way.

What we are witnessing is the kind of distortion that arises when institutions like the military and the State Department are turned on the people they were meant to protect. These mainstays of the federal government, designed to safeguard civil society and promote peace and stability, are now being weaponized for political advantage.

The violence on television is not our only risk. We are also seeing federal budget proposals that would shift resources from the poor to the wealthy; due process being denied to immigrants; and the defunding of essential public health, social service, and foreign aid programs that have long fulfilled the Gospel mandate to care for the vulnerable, children, and those who are hungry and sick.

With all of this in mind, we are finding ways to respond as Christians to what we see happening around us. We are exploring options to support litigation challenging the travel ban on the ground of religious freedom; advocating for federal spending that safeguards the welfare of the most vulnerable; caring for immigrants and refugees in our congregations and communities; and standing in solidarity with other faith groups. In short, we are practicing institutional resistance rooted not in partisan allegiance, but in Christian conviction.

At its best, our church is capable of moral clarity and resolute commitment to justice. I believe we can bring those strengths to bear on this gathering storm. Churches like ours, protected by the First Amendment and practiced in galvanizing people of goodwill, may be some of the last institutions capable of resisting the injustice now being promulgated. That is not a role we sought—but it is one we are called to.

In Geneva, I have been reminded that we are part of a global communion of hope in the Risen Christ. We do not stand alone as we live by our baptismal promises: to persevere in resisting evil, to strive for justice and peace among all people, and to respect the dignity of every human being. In these troubling times, may we find courage and resilience in our identity as members of the Body of Christ.

Yours in Christ,

The Most Rev. Sean Rowe
Presiding Bishop
The Episcopal Church

 Message from Bishop Kym: Seasons and Connection

Greetings, beloved in Christ, and happy Easter. If you were to ask any of my children, they would tell you that Easter is a season, not a day. This is the mantra they’ve heard from the time they were very little, that as Episcopalians, we celebrate 50 days of Easter, 50 days of rejoicing in our resurrected life, 50 days in marveling at the miracle of resurrection that connects us to our creator and to one another through our risen Lord.

As many of you know, I will be embarking on sabbatical this fall, and the theme of my sabbatical is connection. In light of that theme, I will be traveling to the Anglican Church of Kenya and the Anglican Church of South Africa and the Anglican Church of Mexico. Specifically, I will be hosted by the first women ordained bishops in the churches that I will be visiting. I will be learning from them what the Holy Spirit is doing, learning how Church is enriching the lives of community, learning how we can be in deeper connection and communion with one another.

‘Good News and Gratitude’ podcast:

New episode: Good News from Sarah Condon
In its inaugural season, this podcast from the United Thank Offering—hosted by the Rev. Erin Jean Warde—explores the messages of gratitude and good news found in Scripture and the world around us, as well as through the wisdom of guests and personal spiritual practices.

Read the Colorado Episcopalian Here

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