Carlye J. Hughes's blog

Holy Week this year is going to be a very different experience for us. Bishop Hughes talks about how we can still find holiness in it. (Time: 4:59.)

Video Transcript

This is Bishop Hughes in the Diocese of Newark. I want to talk with you today about Holy Week, and Holy Week in this time that we live in. It is going to be a very different experience of Holy Week this year. One where we enter in individually, where we enter in in families, where we enter in with a loved one or maybe by ourselves and we enter in to Holy Week in our own homes.

As a person of faith in a world of diminishing faith, what do you need? Could you use some rest?

Every year, at Diocesan Convention, we claim our relationship with each other. Reports are made, votes are taken, information is shared, workshops are given, and we worship God together. In short, we remember who we are as a much larger people of faith. Together we are a mighty force and an awesome sight to behold

The good news the angels shared is true for us too. Christ’s presence transforms, heals, comforts, and compels us to live a life that is expansive, hopeful, compassionate and generous.

During this Advent and Christmas, at this time, we need each other to be messengers of God's love.

Bishop Hughes is looking for people who will dream and who will pray together and who will work together and be in conversation about what the future of our church in northern New Jersey might look like.

When we are generous, it reminds us of who we are and who we were created to be: creatures who are made in God's image, and God is a generous God.

The story of early Christianity and the formation of the church is chronicled in Holy Scripture. The Acts of the Apostles and the numerous letters sent to fledgling church communities in places such as Philippi, Corinth, Galatia, and Rome portray the development and growth of our faith tradition.

Vestries are people who are committed not only to running a church, but who are deeply committed to God. 

The only way to exit the endless treadmill of action is to follow Jesus to the quiet place for rest.