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Diocesan News

Gun Violence

“A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” – Jeremiah 31:15  The past few weeks, I have felt overwhelmed at the images and stories of mass shooting upon mass shooting. School in Tennessee. Sweet …

2023 Memorial Day Thoughts

by Deacon Michael Douglas, Vietnam Veteran “This is the day we pay homage to all those who didn’t come home. This is not Veterans Day, it’s not a celebration, it is a day of solemn contemplation over the cost of freedom.”  Tamra Bolton Historically, young men and women have joined the military over the years …

Title 42… Again

 “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit …

Hydrogen: God’s gift to planet Earth

by David Spence, MD Electric vehicles are flooding the market these days.  For those of us who take the threat of climate change seriously as part of our Christian responsibility to be good caretakers of the world that God created, this is a tremendous opportunity to reduce our carbon footprint.  But there are also zero-emission …

The Making of Kings and Queens

As the branch of the Anglican Communion in the United States, the Episcopal Church has a mixed identity with the English church, and Great Britain more generally: are we rebels who reject our colonial forebears and the relationship of the monarch with the Established Church? Are we American Anglophiles, who idealize the heritage of our …

A Veteran Ministry Call to Action! 

Calling parishes & volunteers to assist with the “Feed the Vets” Ministry at the new US Vets Housing Center in Phoenix!  In late May 2023, the US Vets Center Grand Village, which houses disabled veterans, homeless veterans & veterans in need in the Phoenix area will relocate from Grand Avenue in west Phoenix to a …

Gratitude

I’ve been listening to Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants while driving around our diocese.  I just got to the chapter called “Allegiance to Gratitude” where she contrasts the experience of beginning the school day saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the Onondaga Nation’s practice of beginning …

Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan

by The Rev. Anderia Arok Lual On April 15, 2023, armed clashes erupted between the Sudan Army forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in heavily populated parts of Khartoum, and spread to other cities including in the Darfur region. Khartoum residents are struggling to provide aid to those injured during the indiscriminate firing of …

The Rev. Rosa Brown Retirement

The Rev. Rosa Brown is retiring from her ministry at Iglesia Santa Maria and Trinity Cathedral on Sunday, April 30, 2023.  Rev. Brown began her ordained ministry in the Anglican Church of Costa Rica thirty years ago, where among other ministries she served on the Bishop’s staff. She moved to the United States, and the …

Walking with Jesus in Jerusalem

Once again we begin our walk through the great Three Days: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter.  This year has seen many oft-postponed groups of pilgrims from Arizona (and elsewhere) visit the Holy Land, where they have walked in the steps of Jesus, along with countless other pilgrims for nearly two thousand years. I encourage …