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News Analysis By Kirk Petersen In a continuation of a low-key leadership struggle in the House of Deputies, two priests have declared their candidacies for vice president. Their bids recognize that the current VPHoD, the Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton, is running against Julia Ayala Harris, the incumbent president of the House of Deputies (PHoD). The intricacies of these moves highlight the ways in which leadership of the Episcopal Church both resembles and differs from the secular United States government. The struggle also seems to have undermined an initiative related to Indigenous residential ..read more

By Richard J. Mammana Correspondent The Lady Chapel at Saint Mark’s has undergone a full architectural restoration. Celebrations in Philadelphia for the 175th anniversary of Saint Mark’s, Locust Street, have included a gala benefit, the international debut of a choral mass setting, the completion and dedication of a console revitalizing its 1936-37 Aeolian-Skinner organ, and a full architectural restoration of its iconic landmark, the Lady Chapel. The parish, begun with a vestry meeting in 1847 and the laying of its cornerstone on April 25, 1848, was one of the very first in North America to b ..read more

By Douglas LeBlanc and Mark Michael Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town has released six pages of draft prayers for and about same-sex couples. Remarkably for this genre of prayers, the 15 drafts released by the archbishop reflect not only proposed blessings but also a prayer of opposition and prayers that focus more on the divided nature of Anglican Church of Southern Africa. Southern Africa’s Provincial Synod will discuss the draft prayers in September. The prayers use sparse punctuation and occasional free-form capitalization, and some push the church toward blessings. The archbishop hims ..read more

This is the second of two columns from the April 28 edition. Appointments The Very Rev. Alexander Andujar is rector of St. John the Divine, Sun City Center, Fla. The Rev. Carolyn Bartkus is rector of Annunciation, Lewisville, Texas. Mr. Craig Bielke is executive director of Toddhall Retreat Center, Columbia, Ill. The Rev. Mark Andrew Bowers is deacon at Trinity, Lebanon, Mo. The Rev. Jane Brady is interim priest in charge of St. Stephen’s, Schenectady, N.Y. The Rev. Guillermo Castillo is rector of Iglesia Episcopal de San Pablo, Phoenix. The Rev. Canon David Chavez is rector of All Saints of t ..read more

The May 26 Parish Ministry issue of The Living Church is available online to registered subscribers. Our cover story is a series of tributes to the dynamic ministry of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry. Distinguished leaders from the Episcopal Church and the wider Anglican Communion gives thanks for his dynamic preaching, pastoral warmth, good humor, and reconciling heart. Kirk Petersen interviews Bishop Curry about his place in the Episcopal Church’s story, and his hopes for the church’s next chief leader. In the news section, Kirk tracks a bid by the House of Deputies’ vice ..read more

An interview with Nashotah House’s new dean By Mark Michael The selection of Dr. Lauren Whitnah as Nashotah House’s next dean and president may seem to signal a major break with the Wisconsin Anglo-Catholic seminary’s 182 years of tradition. Whitnah is only the second layperson to lead the institution and the first woman (indeed, she will be the only woman on the faculty). She hasn’t taught in a seminary before, and her current job is mostly focused on writing grants for a large-data computing lab. She is almost certainly the first dean to have a side hustle teaching Argentine tango. But Whitn ..read more

By Greta Gaffin Monastic life in the Episcopal Church has existed since the 19th century, when the Oxford Movement led men and women to reclaim this ancient tradition. The Order of the Holy Cross, founded by the Rev. James Otis Sargent Huntington in 1884, has seen a noticeable growth in vocations, both at its American house in West Park, New York, and at its South African house in Volmoed on the Western Cape. Since January 2023 at the American house, one man has made a life profession of vows, another has made a first profession of vows, and three became new novices. Two men men have made firs ..read more

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7 Easter, May 12 Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 • Ps. 1 • 1 John 5:9-13 • John 17:6-19 The loss of Judas from the band of disciples is not only a tragedy but a loss in membership that must be corrected. The disciples are to be exactly 12, a recapitulation of the tribes of Israel, the Church being — in a sense — a new Israel. Peter advises that they choose “one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us — one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection” (Ac ..read more