This piece was published as an op-ed in the Star-Ledger on December 12, 2012.
Jairo Barreto perched on a chair in the parish hall at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Morristown getting his hair trimmed – a fresh cut and, he hopes, part of a fresh start.
On his own since he was 16, the Morristown native weathered some rough-and-tumble days and acquired a criminal record. “I got into a decent amount of trouble when I was a kid,” said Barreto, now 32.
Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and President of the House of Deputies the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings have announced the 24 members of the special Task Force for Church Structural Reform.
Approved at the July General Convention 2012, Resolution C095 calls for development of a 24-member task force charged with presenting a plan to the next General Convention in 2015 “for reforming the Church’s structures, governance, and administration.”
Members of the Peace Islands Institute provided authentic Turkish dishes as part of a special coffee house held at St. Paul Episcopal Church on Sunday, Nov. 11.
Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu leaders pressed for more affordable housing at a rally in Trenton on Wednesday, arguing the state has a moral obligation to ensure its citizens can find affordable places to live.
“We know for a fact that people cannot address their basic needs without stable housing,” said the Rev. Deacon Christine McCloud, of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark. “At the end of the day, we are all responsible for helping our neighbor.”
Fairbairn Powers, priest in charge of St. Agnes Episcopal Church, has been an athlete for a long time.
In her 40s she competed in marathons and cross-country skied. In her 50s, she backpacked. Then her doctor told her should she should bicycle, swim and "do other things" to diversify her workouts.
So Powers, now 73, became a triathlete. First she competed in the Danskin Triathlon – an all women's entry-level marathon at Sandy Hook.
"I tried Danskin and I was hooked," she said. "It is just so much fun. It's wonderful to be out and exercising."
The words surfaced again and again as Episcopalians described how their churches became distribution centers for relief supplies and sanctuaries of warmth and food in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which slammed the Northeast on Oct. 29. The storm swept away or flooded homes along the coasts of New Jersey and New York, disrupted transportation and telephone services across the region and left millions of households without electricity and heat, and in some cases water, throughout multiple dioceses.
Churches responded by opening their doors as warming, charging and feeding stations; collecting and distributing emergency supplies and meals; and dispatching volunteers to visit and inventory the needs of those most affected by the storm. In the process, their clergy reported, the churches offered new opportunities for service and built community within and beyond their walls.
One day after two beloved members of their parish died in a house fire, dozens gathered Sunday at St. James Episcopal Church to grieve and pray for a woman who was active within the church, and her “sweet” young son.
In between prayer and song, a few worshipers held hands with loved ones while they shed tears for Jeralyn Scibetta and her youngest son Daniel, 14, both killed Saturday morning in their Linden Avenue home.
For the Jews, Muslims, and Christians on a New Jersey interfaith mission to Israel, the low point of their weeklong trip was perhaps a visit to the Aida refugee camp on the outskirts of Bethlehem. The towering security wall, the anti-Israel graffiti, and the unsmiling children were grim reminders of the ongoing enmity between the children of Abraham.
