In the News

On Good Friday, the day Christians commemorate Jesus’ crucifixion, the Rev. Melissa Hall, assistant rector at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Morristown, led an interactive children’s Stations of the Cross service for about 50 people. Children read short Scripture verses and played various biblical characters as they walked to different locations throughout the church, re-enacting Jesus journey from judgement by Roman governor Pontius Pilate to his death on the cross.

It's budget season in New Jersey, and this year, the debate centers on how the state's expenditures and revenue plan can accelerate the "New Jersey comeback." In these discussions, it's typical for both sides to claim that their budget plan results in the best investments for the future.

Leni Muscarella had a gift for hospitality. So it’s a sure bet he would have loved the recent party thrown at his home parish of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Morristown to celebrate the dedication of the expanded and renovated kitchen named in his honor.

It's been 30 years of helping people in need.

And they all have different stories.

Anne Mernin, who is the director of outreach at St. Luke's Episcopal Church and heads its food ministry, Toni's Kitchen, sees people walking into the soup kitchen with children. She sees individuals who have mental disabilities, and people who have to choose between buying groceries or paying their rent.

Mernin admits it can be heart-wrenching.

But the best part of her job is seeing many people get back on their feet.

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.

The two best decisions she ever made, says Marge Christie, were accepting her husband George’s marriage proposal and joining the Episcopal Church.

The two decisions were, in fact, related. After they met in high school, she said, “I used to go to church with him because, guess what? I had an extra day with him.”

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.

A Jersey City based non-profit developer has converted nine vacant two-family houses into 18 affordable homes in some of the city’s neighborhoods hardest hit by foreclosures.

Officials from the Garden State Episcopal Community Development Corporation held a ribbon cutting last week on Tuesday at a three-story house at 152.5 Arlington Avenue, one of nine buildings in Greenville, Bergen/Lafayette and McGinley Square that have been renovated since going through foreclosure proceedings.

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.