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[Episcopal News Service] A church in the Diocese of New Jersey is seeking authorization to build a 17-bed homeless shelter next to an existing outreach facility on its property, and the plan is facing local resistance. Christ Episcopal Church in Toms River, a coastal town of about 100,000, is seeking approval of the plan from the local Board of Adjustment, which meets next on March 13. Residents have raised concerns about safety and staff training at the shelter, according to the Asbury Park Press. The church is partnering with the Affordable Housing Alliance, a nonprofit group that counsels people experiencing homelessness, including at the church’s outreach center. By expanding services there to include a shelter, it would allow unhoused adults to stay from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m., with an overnight staff of two. Guests also would be provided with food, shower facilities and counseling on a range of services, including job placement and permanent housing. The project reportedly would be financed by Ocean County but requires approval for a zoning variance, because homeless shelters are not allowed anywhere in Toms River. Advocates note, however, that the church’s residential zoning already allows for group homes and shelters for domestic violence victims. “One of the purposes of a church is to provide outreach services to the community,” Brian J. Murphy, a professional planner working on the project, said at a hearing in January, according to Asbury Park Press. “The homeless are already familiar with the site. They have been coming there since July 2023.” The proposal comes at a time when county officials are hoping to address a growing housing crisis fueled partly by rising rents and the replacement of coastal motels with higher-end developments. Toms River also recently shut down a homeless encampment, displacing 32 people, some of whom have since found permanent housing. Christ Episcopal Church also is following in the footsteps of other Episcopal congregations that have stepped up their outreach efforts to serve the homeless as a national affordable housing crisis has intensified. In Louisville, Kentucky, Christ Church Cathedral opened a temporary winter shelter this year for women and children experiencing homelessness. Other Episcopal ministries serving the homeless have taken root in San Francisco, California, and Pottstown, Pennsylvania. And in 2024, St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Brookings, Oregon, won a lawsuit allowing it to continue its homeless feeding ministry after the city passed an ordinance seeking to limit such outreach.

Note: The Church in Wales has issued the following statement about Anthony Pierce, the former bishop of Swansea and Brecon, who in February admitted to five counts of indecent assault on a male child under the age of 16. The offenses took place between 1985 and 1990, when Pierce was a parish priest in West Cross, Swansea. On March 12 Pierce was sentenced to four years and one month, half of which he will serve in jail. [Church in Wales] The sentence which has been handed down reflects the shocking nature of these offences and the gross breach of trust which they represent. Anthony Pierce has abused his position, disgraced his church and, worst of all, has inflicted appalling and lasting trauma on his victim. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim in this case, who has shown immense courage in reporting what are deeply painful experiences. We offer him the most heartfelt apology for what he has had to endure. When these offenses were disclosed to the Church in Wales in 2023, we immediately reported the matter to the police, and we worked closely with our statutory partners as the case was investigated and prosecuted. In court today, the victim commended the work of the Provincial Safeguarding Officer assigned to his case. Anthony Pierce will now be referred to the Church in Wales Disciplinary Tribunal, via an accelerated process for post-conviction disciplinary matters. In his pastoral letter to the diocese following the court case, the present bishop of Swansea and Brecon, the Rt. Rev. John Lomas, has made it clear that he will be asking the Tribunal to consider deposing Pierce from Holy Orders, the most severe sanction available. When Anthony Pierce appeared in court on Feb. 7  and admitted these offenses, we issued a statement giving details of what had been discovered in an internal inquiry prompted by the 2023 report. That inquiry found that a previous report of abuse against a different victim had been received in 1993 by a small number of senior figures in the church but had not been reported to police until 2010, by which time the victim had died and Anthony Pierce had been appointed to, and had retired from, the position of bishop. As a result of this information, the Church in Wales Safeguarding Committee has commissioned an independent external review of the Church in Wales’s handling of the 1993 allegation, which has already commenced and which will be published upon completion. The review will also consider how safeguarding allegations are handled in the church’s current systems for the appointment of archdeacons and bishops and whether any changes to these processes are necessary. Full terms of reference were published in February. The Church in Wales is determined to demonstrate that it is a safe place, and that anyone coming forward will have their concerns or disclosures taken seriously, treated with compassion, and taken forward according to the highest current standards. If our people and processes have failed victims and survivors of abuse in the past, we intend to take responsibility for that fact and to fully apply the lessons which have been learned. We feel the most profound shame at the dreadful offenses which have resulted in today’s court case, but we hope the swift and decisive way with which the case was handled when it was reported in 2023, and the fact that we have proactively and disclosed the issues relating to the 1993 report will give confidence that we are determined to do everything possible to ensure the church is safe, that abuse is discovered and dealt with and that victims are respected and supported. We encourage anyone with safeguarding concerns to contact a member of our team via the Church in Wales website: https://www.churchinwales.org.uk/en/safeguarding/reporting-safeguarding-concern/ Alternatively, Safe Spaces is a free and independent support service, providing a confidential, personal and safe space for anyone who has been abused through their relationship with either the Church of England, the Catholic Church in England and Wales or the Church in Wales.​ You can contact the Safe Spaces team on the website www.safespacesenglandandwales.org.uk​ or by email at safespaces@firstlight.org.uk. Anyone with concerns or information about this case should contact South Wales Police on 101.

[World Council of Churches] World Council of Churches general secretary the Rev. Jerry Pillay expressed deep sorrow and grave concern over the recent tragic developments in Syria, where, according to some sources, more than 1,000 civilians, primarily from the Alawite community, have been massacred. “We underscore the joint statement issued by the Heads of Churches in Syria on Dec. 29, 2024, which expressed a vision for a new Syria based on reconciliation, dialogue, partnership, and hope,” Pillay said on March 10. “Their call for a culture of dialogue and national unity remains more urgent than ever in the face of the ongoing violence and suffering.” He reaffirmed that violence only begets more violence and called on all Syrians to break free from this destructive cycle and work toward a future rooted in justice, healing, and peace. “Syria’s tragic history reminds us that repeating past atrocities will only perpetuate suffering and division,” Pillay said. “Instead, we must strive for a reconciled society where the dignity of all is upheld.” Read the entire article here.

[Episcopal News Service] The Rev. Lauren Grubaugh Thomas is in the early stages of forming a new worshiping community in Sterling Ranch, Colorado. It would seem to be an ideal location – a rapidly growing suburb of Denver with a high concentration of young families. Grubaugh Thomas says she couldn’t hope to do it alone. The same goes for the Rev. Carl Adair, who is developing a new Episcopal congregation in the diverse neighborhood of Sunnyside, Queens, five years after the Diocese of Long Island closed a longtime church there. Like Grubaugh Thomas, Adair’s initial efforts at church planting have been nourished by local and denominational grants, guidance from churchwide staff members and his participation in a grassroots network of enthusiastic church planters. As a churchwide realignment begins to take shape, however, Adair, Grubaugh Thomas and others who spoke to ENS say they are worried about the future of their network and denominational support. “That network has been absolutely crucial in my ongoing formation as a priest, as a disciple, and I can’t imagine myself doing any of the things we’re trying here without the ongoing support of this nationwide cohort,” Adair told Episcopal News Service in a phone interview. Recent examples of church-planting starts are plentiful across The Episcopal Church, from a family-friendly dinner church in the Diocese of Georgia to an Episcopal community serving the unhoused in the Diocese of Western Oregon. Innovative Episcopal clergy have launched more than 200 new worshiping communities since 2000 – many of them in the past decade, during which The Episcopal Church has awarded more than $9 million in grants to support that work while developing and expanding its churchwide infrastructure. No figures were immediately available on how many of those new worshiping communities remain active today. This triennium, changes are underway. The priests involved in this work, who already were uncertain about the status of an additional $2.2 million budgeted for church planting and revitalization in 2025-27, told ENS they are eager for clarifying details about Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe’s plan to realign churchwide operations to better serve dioceses. Last month, Rowe laid off 14 churchwide staff members in the first phase of his restructuring plan, including the two church employees who have developed and overseen the network of Episcopal church planters: the Rev. Tom Brackett, manager for church planting and mission development, and the Rev. Katie Nakamura Rengers, staff officer for church planting. Though church planting is one of the departments being reorganized or phased out, “our commitment to church planting and redevelopment is undiminished,” Rowe said in a Feb. 20 letter to the church outlining the structural realignment. “In the months to come, we will be reorganizing this ministry and the ways it supports and serves our dioceses.” The changes also could impact the churchwide grant program that invests in new congregations. It is facilitated each triennium by an advisory board, which has not yet been appointed for this cycle. Rowe says he and House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris are now working on those appointments, which were on hold until the staff realignment. In a March 10 Zoom interview with ENS, Rowe affirmed that he is not abandoning the church’s ongoing investment in church planting. He said the detailed way forward will be worked out through collaborative conversations with dioceses and the priests who have been active in the churchwide network. “Part of the plan for the future is convening people, consulting widely, hearing what the needs are and then pivoting to those,” Rowe said, to “begin to think about how are we going to meet these needs differently.” When asked whether the former structure had not been meeting the church’s needs, Rowe emphasized a new diocese-centered approach “rather than us running some kind of parallel structure” at the churchwide level. “How can we help dioceses realize their local vision for church planting, for redevelopment at the local level?” Rowe said. “I think it will allow for more effective use of resources over the long run. … That’s to be determined, but I think what we want to do is have more integration.” After Rowe released the initial details of his realignment plan, ENS invited general comment on the plan from members of Executive Council, the church’s governing body between General Convention. Many of those who responded acknowledged some anxiety across the church over the staffing changes but pledged their support for Rowe’s focus on assisting Episcopal dioceses and congregations. Other Executive Council members suggested to ENS that Rowe had not yet been sufficiently forthcoming with details, including about church planting. “Who will take on that mission work, or are we abandoning this area entirely?” Joe McDaniel, a lay member from the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast, said about church planting in an email to ENS. ENS also sought comment on Rowe’s realignment plan from the Rev. Tim Baer, the rector of a well-known and successful church plant, Grace Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Oklahoma. Baer said he is in favor of efforts to change church structures to support mission and ministry at the diocesan level. At the same time, he said he would welcome more clarity about how church planting will be affected. “I’m eager to hear what that plan is,” Baer said, adding that some churchwide coordination is necessary. Without that support, he said, the capacity for church planting “is near zero in most dioceses.” In his Feb. 20 letter to the church, Rowe said The Episcopal Church can “make an even stronger and more effective witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ” by changing some core staff priorities. Under the new operational structure, church planting becomes part of the expansive portfolio of the Rev. Lester Mackenzie, whom Rowe hired as his chief of mission program, a newly created position. “Church planting cannot be about institutional survival. I believe it must also be about discipleship, deep community and the Spirit’s movement,” Mackenzie said

[Church in Wales] Saint Deiniol’s Cathedral in Bangor, Wales, has been awarded “The Freedom of the City of Bangor,” the highest honor the city council can bestow, in recognition of its substantial contributions to the community throughout its long history. The award comes as the city celebrates its 1500th anniversary in 2025. In a unanimous decision during a recent meeting, Bangor City Council voted  to honor the cathedral with the civic award, making it the first organization to receive this recognition in over a decade. Previous recipients include the British Broadcasting Corporation, RAF Valley, and David Lloyd George, who was British prime minster during World War I. The award acknowledges the cathedral’s historical significance and ongoing role in Bangor’s cultural and spiritual life as the city approaches this momentous milestone. Founded by Saint Deiniol in 525 AD, Bangor is recognized as Wales’ oldest city in recorded history.

[Office of the Archbishop of York] Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell began his Lord’s Prayer tour across northern England with a service of choral evensong at York Minster on March 7. The tour will visit cathedrals and churches, exploring the words of the Lord’s Prayer through teaching, reflection and music. At the heart of the archbishop’s tour is a simple but powerful invitation: to pray the Lord’s Prayer by heart and align our lives with God’s will. This call is beautifully echoed in the prayer’s central plea, ‘Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ Using the metaphor of music, Cottrell’s sermon at the evensong service encouraged people to think of God’s will as the single perfect note that resonates throughout the universe — a note to which our lives can be tuned. Through prayer, we learn to hear this note, bringing harmony to our hearts and aligning with God’s purpose for the world. The service at York Minster also featured a musical performance of a new setting of the Lord’s Prayer, composed by Lucy Walker. Sung by the choir of York Minster, the piece highlighted how the Lord’s Prayer continues to resonate with people today. The tour and newly commissioned music are part of “Faith in the North,” which has been developed to encourage prayer, storytelling and church planting, inspired by the northern Saints such as Hild, Cuthbert, Bede and Paulinus. The goal is to deepen connections with the Christian faith and renew the church’s mission to share God’s love with all. Free resources are available for schools and churches to help explore this.