Bishop Hughes talks about preparing for this Christmas in a way that we've never prepared for Christmas before. (Time: 4:39.)
We're facing a Christmas that is different than any we have ever had. How do we walk through Advent in the midst of pandemic and division? Bishop Hughes shares the inspiration she found when she heard a new rendition of a favorite old hymn. (Time: 5:05.)
Bishop Hughes shows her sacred space at home and talks about the importance of making a sacred space for ourselves, especially as we are facing a holiday season like none we have experienced before due to the Covid pandemic. (Time: 4:04.)
“Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.”
1 Thessalonians 5:11
Dear Companions on the Journey,
Noting that we stand at a crossroads this week, Bishop Hughes says, "A person could almost start to ask the question, 'How do we manage it all?' And I think it's important for us to remember, that we don't manage it all. That is the God who created us, the God who loves us, the God who remains with us, that we turn to to help us walk through it all." (Time: 5:07.)
During these unusual circumstances, Bishop Hughes wants to ensure that everyone in the Diocese of Newark has the opportunity to receive Communion at least three times in this program year. In this video she invites members of the diocese to participate in – and pray for – the first Diocesan Communion on Sunday, November 8, 2020. (Time: 3:49.)
Dear Companions on the Journey,
As I’m sure you well recall, I put emergency measures into place for this pandemic in March of this year, with in-person worship being suspended in most churches on March 15 and in all churches by March 22. This emergency approach stayed in place into the summer, even as Journey Forward guidelines were issued in June. These guidelines permitted a return to in-person worship for congregations interested and able to do so. Staying completely online or remote continues to be an absolutely acceptable way to worship.
Bishop Hughes wrote this article at the invitation of The Church of England Newspaper, where it will be published on Friday, September 25.
"I think if Episcopalians will do what we do – pick up our prayer books and say our prayers faithfully – then we have done an important act of service for the entire nation," says Bishop Hughes.
Bishop Hughes talks about the rite of confession and forgiveness in our Book of Common Prayer, and how it can be a means letting go of grudges and wounds and going forth changed and blessed.
