In the News

The Reverend Canon Denise G. Haines, in the vanguard of women ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church, former Archdeacon of the Diocese of Newark and developer of innovative clinical pastoral care programs died on October 8th in Summit, NJ. She was 73. The cause was cancer, said her daughter, Elizabeth L. Haines. She was a resident of Summit from 1967 to 1986 and then again from 2007 until the time of her death.

On the eleventh anniversary of 9/11, at the same time Bishop Mark Beckwith was standing with a rabbi and an imam outside Newark Penn Station, greeting morning commuters with songs and prayers for peace (covered by The Star-Ledger, New Jersey Jewish News and Episcopal News Service), clergy and lay people from several congregations were also "taking the altar into the world" by sharing prayers for peace at their local train stations and bus stops.

Sales have been brisk for Jack's Homemade Dog Biscuits.

Children at Grace Episcopal Church made hundreds of the dog biscuits and are selling them at $5 a bag to raise money to get a service dog for Jack Harter, a 6-year-old Madison boy who has a disease that leaves him with little mobility and no way to consistently communicate.

The dog biscuits will be on sale at the Downtown Concert Series on Friday and at Bottle Hill Day.

Would you withhold food from a hungry child?

Chances are, you wouldn’t. But with the number of families living in poverty increasing in alarming numbers, being hungry has become the norm for many of these children. In New Jersey alone, more than 800,000 people fell within the poverty level. It is estimated that one in eight, roughly 13 percent of that number, are children.

A room within St. Agnes Episcopal Church is stocked with canned soups, meats, fruits, and vegetables alongside cereals, pasta and pet food. It is the church's newly expanded food pantry and is open to anyone in need.

The church has always collected and distributed food for the needy, but several weeks ago they took it a step further and officially opened a food bank.

The Rev. Diane Riley, a deacon in the Diocese of Newark as well as director for advocacy of the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, is quoted in this article in The Star-Ledger.

The rich really did get richer in New Jersey over the past 10 years, and the gulf between the wealthiest and poorest residents is the widest it’s been since the Great Depression, a new study has found.

Re: “Can Liberal Christianity Be Saved?,” by Ross Douthat (column, July 15).

To the Editor:

If liberal Christianity is defined as doing anything to adapt to the culture, I’d be glad to pray over its grave. But that’s neither the church I serve nor the diocese I lead.

The Episcopal Church is one of many mainline denominations, part of America’s ecclesiastical landscape since the beginning of our country. At times, each denomination has reflected an institutional arrogance, assuming that people will know and find us because we’ve been around so long.

[Episcopal News Service – Indianapolis] General Convention has called on the Episcopal Church to re-imagine its structure, taken historic steps towards full inclusion, endorsed positive investment in the Palestinian Territories, and reaffirmed its commitment to building Anglican Communion relationships while saying it is unable to adopt the Anglican Covenant.

“Five ‘Marks’ of Mission” serenaded the House of Bishops at the start of the July 12 morning session. Beckwith (Newark); Hollingsworth (Ohio); Lattime (Alaska) and Sisk (New York) were four of the Marks. Despite the spelling of his name, Marc Andrus of the Diocese of California rounded out the quintet.