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Diocesan News

The Philadelphia Eleven

Last fall, I was privileged to attend an online private screening of The Philadelphia Eleven, a new documentary about the first women-ordained priests in the Episcopal Church. Those eleven women were ordained on July 29, 1974, at the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia, two years before the Episcopal Church officially permitted the ordination of …

Beyond Dominion and Stewardship

By Dr. Angel Wang In the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve were given charge over Creation as “dominion” or “stewardship”. Could a third, rarely recognized interpretation be “partnership”? Harvard philosopher Christine Korsgaard, in her book Fellow Creatures: Our Obligations to the Other Animals, makes the case that humans are not inherently more important than animals and …

Pilgrimage to Kenya

Most of you are aware that I formed a friendship with a Kenyan bishop, John Oringa, at the Lambeth Conference last summer.  In our conversations, he indicated that his clergy in this missionary diocese are often not paid due to lack of funds, and having put out the call to the Diocese of Arizona, many …

Let Your Voice Be Heard!

Are you aware that as Arizonans we have the opportunity to make known our position on the various bills that are being considered by our State legislature by simply going online using the Request to Speak (RTS) system? Legislators have indicated that they read and remember RTS comments and registering your Bill Position can help …

Dust

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” All over our diocese today, we are saying and hearing those words. Remember. You are dust. You shall return to dust.  There is also a lot of dust blowing in the strong winds. Dust getting everywhere–blowing into homes, and cars, and ears, and eyes. …

Scripture and Caring for Creation

By The Rev. Canon Pam Hyde “Is creation care really something that we need to pay attention to in church?” As I talk to people in our churches in the diocese, I’ve heard this question a couple of times.  But more often I’ve heard people indirectly question the importance of caring for God’s creation in …

Prayers for Memphis

As I write this week’s Epistle, Tyre Nichols is being laid to rest in Memphis.  I don’t know that I have more relevant words to share on his death than those of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and Bishop Phoebe Roaf of West Tennessee.  Presiding Bishop Curry’s statement is here, and Bishop Roaf’s is here. I …

Desert Wisdom

January 17th is the Feast Day of St. Antony of Egypt, one of the fourth-century Desert Fathers and Mothers whose wisdom was collected and has been passed down to our own day in various translations.  I first encountered them in Thomas Merton’s translation, The Wisdom of the Desert, and I turn back to it periodically, …

Visit to Kisii Kenya from Arizona

Written by George Hartz The City of Scottsdale has had a sister city relationship since December 2013 with Uasin Gishu County in western Kenya.  My wife Donna and I have had the privilege and joy of visiting Kenya eight times in support of this relationship.  During those visits, we have also gotten to know, and …

Call to Prayer

It has already been a fascinating experience serving on the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music for the Episcopal Church. One key piece of what I am working on is the continued development of the www.episcopalcommonprayer.org website, per a resolution at the last General Convention.  The site currently has a great list of liturgical resources, …