Clergy

Diocesan Council strives to embody the diocesan mission statement: “Equipping congregations… Empowering people… Engaging the world… with the hope and justice of Jesus.” In this effort, Council is finding ways to partner, resource, and support the diocese in the fullest sense of the word – the people, congregations, affiliated organizations, and communities in which they minister.

For nearly two weeks, from February 28 until March 10, 2012, Bishop Beckwith, Canon Jacobs and 29 members of the diocese traveled on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. They visited many of the sites from the Gospel stories, walked where Jesus walked and saw the horizons he saw.

Leaders of the Roman Catholic and Episcopal churches in North Jersey announced their support Thursday of area Muslims who have decried the secret surveillance tactics of the NYPD.

Statements reflecting the viewpoints of Archbishop John J. Myers of the Newark Roman Catholic Archdiocese and Bishop Mark Bethwith of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, made during a press conference in Jersey City, adds to a growing chorus of critics who spoke out against the blanket surveillance of Muslim communities and college organizations in the region.

With the sun going down and the wind picking up, the temperature at the 45th Street light rail station dropped to more normal February levels. But The Rev. Rose Cohen Hassan of Trinity Church in Bayonne did not shiver or shirk from the duty she had come to perform, waiting for the next train of commuters to arrive.

“I wore layers,” she said, turning up the sleeve of her white religious garb to show the arm of the sweater she wore.

She and Andrew Balik, an assistant, had come here as members of Trinity Church to administer ashes to those commuters who wished to partake.

It would be quite hard for most to briefly sum up all the work that Father Joseph Pickard has done for St. John of the Divine Episcopal Church and the Hasbrouck Heights community.

Under his leadership, the congregation has grown and expanded, joining with St. Martin’s Church in Maywood. His leadership led to the creation of Care on the Corner, a non-profit organization built out of the church’s ministry which provides numerous services and resources to the people of Hasbrouck Heights and its surrounding community.

An Episcopal News Service video of the Rev. Sandye Wilson, Rector of St. Andrew & Holy Communion in South Orange, giving "Ashes to Go" at the South Orange Train Station on Feb. 22, 2012.

About 20 Episcopal priests fanned out throughout North Jersey and stationed themselves at commuter train stations, bus stops and coffee shops as part of Ash Wednesday services.

The movement — called Ashes to Go — started with Episcopal parishes in St. Louis, Mo., and spread to Chicago suburbs before becoming a nationwide event. This is the first year that priests from the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, which includes parishes in Bergen and Passaic counties, participated.

Commuters outside Newark Penn Station received holy 'Ashes to Go' from the Rt. Rev. Mark Beckwith, Bishop of Newark, in observance of Ash Wednesday on Feb. 22, 2012. Nine photos by Aristide Economopoulos of The Star-Ledger.

Members of Fort Lee’s Church of the Good Shepherd tried something new Wednesday morning, taking part in what they were calling “Ashes to Go” in celebration of Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.

As Rev. Allison Moore of Good Shepherd recently blogged, the Right Rev. Mark Beckwith, Bishop of the Diocese of Newark, asked members of Episcopal churches in North Jersey “to go to train stations, bus stations, busy intersections or other places people gather to offer ashes and a prayer for Ash Wednesday.”

Dozens of people took time from the hustle and bustle of their morning commute today at the Frank R. Lautenberg train station in Secaucus to receive blessed ashes, marking the start of the Christian holy season of Lent.

Joe Cirone, a Somerset County resident who passes through Secaucus on his way to work in New York, stopped to receive the ashes, even though he said he plans to attend a church service later in the day.

Cirone was one of about 50 people who participated Ash Wednesday "Ashes to Go" program, started by an Episcopalian church pastor in St. Louis, Mo., in 2007.