NEWS & STORIES

Multiple and divergent reporting throughout the media make it difficult to initiate conversations that lead to a credible and enhanced understanding of the situation experienced by legal immigrants on the U.S.-Mexico border. To initiate an intelligent and productive conversation regarding immigration in the Episcopal Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast, a fact-finding team was formed and traveled to the Rio Grande Valley border zone in Texas to gather objective humanitarian inf

Fourteen awesome youth from St. Christopher's EYC along with the Rev. Nick Phares, associate rector; Joe Taylor, Christian education minister; Michelle Haskew, parish administrator, and myself traveled to Birmingham, Alabama, at the end of July for our annual summer trip to serve in various capacities. During the week our teens spent time tutoring and mentoring children at Sparkle, painting homes, serving the elderly, and working at a local clothing and food distribution cen

THE PEOPLE The Baluba (Lost Community) inhabit a remote area of central Zambia, approximately two hours north of the city of Ndola, a city in Zambia's Copperbelt Province. Deep in the bush, the trail into the heart of this approximately 2000-member community is impassable during the rainy season. Their sole source of water is the local stream. There is no electricity. Housing is partially assembled cinderblock squares, with little or no furniture. Some have thatched or tin ro

Victor Chimfwembe was born on November 15, 1986 in Zaire – now the Congo DR. Victor was abandoned at birth and received no care for the first four days of his life. He was found in the streets by a nurse who took him in and cared for him for the next four years. During that time, the nurse and her family immigrated to Zambia, and Victor's name was changed from Kanyinda Wanzolu Nsendula Lwakuma to Victor Chimfwembe. Victor's adoptive family experienced a great deal of domestic

The phrase “no going back” when considering my 20 years of work in Haiti has taken on quite a few meanings for me in the past few weeks. Taken literally, there may be “no going back” at this point in time because of the extremely volatile and dangerous political situation coupled with the possibility that the priest in charge of Martel, where we are now working, may be moved, leaving this community under the guidance of a new priest – one who has yet to form any relationship

Our missioners from left to right: James (Epiphany, Crestview) Jonathan, Connor, Mackenzie and Ashlyn (St.Simons) No. We’re not talking about an Episcopal Weight Lifting Contest. We are referring to our recent mission to the Diocese of Texas sponsored program, Episcopal Strong, to help those in need as a result of the Hurricane Harvey damage. After a year, many people in the Houston area are still without a home due to the severe flooding and will face this situation for a co

"Why engage in global mission, when there are so many needs all around us in our local community?" Most of us have been asked this question and perhaps have struggled to answer it. Our nation grapples on a daily basis with issues of diversity, multiculturalism, migration, interreligious understanding and the lure of isolationism. Why are intercultural relationships so essential to our Christian discipleship? Global Episcopal Mission Network has gathered ten quotes from their

On Sunday, March 4, I made my first trip to Selma, Alabama, to participate in the annual Freedom March across the Edmund Pettus bridge, in memory and in tribute to those who made that terrible but historic walk 53 years ago. I arrived in time to attend service at beautiful St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, where I was warmly welcomed. Then I headed downtown to join the steadily growing crowd, and in doing so I met some fascinating people. First, I met Lynda Blackmon Lowery, who at

Our church, the Church of the Epiphany in Crestview, Florida, has had a dwindling, aging, and somewhat insular population for several years. We needed a lot of assistance learning how to move beyond our functional issues, and wondered how much the newly formed Congregational Enrichment Venture (CEV) program would truly be able to help. Dennis Jackson, Patricia Jackson, Jerry Kueczynski, Tracy Kueczynski, Pat Shew, Frieda Haley, and I initially came together through the urging

An annual event held in Mobile for a segment of the local population in need of various services, Project Homeless Connect (PHC) does exactly what it says: it connects the homeless with those who can meet their needs. The one-day event, held at the fairgrounds in west Mobile, this year on Friday, January 26, offered a wide variety of services, from medical checkups to haircuts to photo-identification cards. The event is organized by Housing First, Inc., a Mobile non-profit, b